RECOVERY STORY: PETE
Pete’s Journey
Presented By Generation Rescue
My name is Hope, mother of Pete. My son's half sister is a nonverbal child affected by autism. Pete was a normal full term baby born in August of 2000. I was concerned about vaccines because Pete’s half sister is a nonverbal child affected by autism. I only allowed single shots even though my doctor was adamantly against this practice. I ended up spreading the vaccines out because he seemed to develop "allergies/sinus" problems for several weeks after most shots. Pete has a continuous runny nose from the time he was about eight months old until food was removed from his diet at about 2.9 months old. The damage was final after the HIB vaccine on March 28, 2003. Pete lost words he had since he was eight months old. He threw fits where he would bang his head and pass out. I sought medical advice because I thought Pete may be having seizures. My once easy going child could no longer go anywhere and neither could I. Pete also suffered from constant constipation. He no longer slept through the night. When he did sleep he was very active and would often flip out of the bed.
After making some phone calls, I learned that it would take six months to get an appointment with a neurologist and longer for a speech language pathologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Since I am a teacher at an elementary school, I sought the advice of our speech language pathologist. She recommended Babies Can't Wait. The team came out to my house to evaluate Pete in his natural environment. I knew when they were evaluating Pete he was also affected and it would later be confirmed Autism. One of the evaluators was also a speech therapist and I opted to have her as Pete's therapist. She gave me book Unraveling the Mysteries of Autism and said had not really known anyone that had attempted to recover their child. I read it in one night and began my fight to rescue Pete.
I went to Augusta, GA to have the SPECT test completed to rule out seizures. I had a regular allergist do allergy testing and nothing showed up. I found a DAN MD who was also a holistic MD. I learned quickly that he knew very little about recovery and hadn't actually recovered anyone. So, I proceeded on my own as Pete’s mother, researcher, and physician. I had Pete tested for heavy metals, yeast and an IGe work up. Results indicated that Pete had a large amount of yeast in his body. He showed negative for heavy metals.
I found Atlanta to be a hostile place for recovery. I received a nasty letter from the traditional allergist and a scolding letter from a gastrointestinal doctor about the diet when I requested Celiac testing.
I really took Pete's information and formed a recovery program based largely on school therapy. My child responded well to both diet and therapies and is now typical. His original ATEC score was 144 and was down to 45 after the first eight months. I did not find a really good doctor until he was “recovered”.
The political climate for recovery in Atlanta was often unbearable. When the foods were removed I saw a big change. Gluten was my last food removed and he appeared to be having drug withdrawals or a seizure of some sort. This has been more like fighting a war than a journey up until the last year or so. The happy ending for me is reintroducing some foods and helping other families in need.
Hope
McDonough, GA
This and other stories of recovery can be found on the testimonials page at Generation Rescue.
Hope,
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am glad you are there to provide other parents with guidance and support. You provide the hope and encouragement for parents to continue on the path of recovery for their children.
Jenni
Mother to two ASD children ont he path to recovery
Posted by: Jennifer Morgan-Byrd | July 12, 2008 at 03:27 PM
I'm there with you, sister! I'm blessed to live in a more friendly area in the suburbs of Chicago and there's a terrific network here that I'm just started to know.
Our mission now is to spread the word. Documenting your recovery and rescue is key to showing the "experts" what you're doing is working. Remember, we're up against some huge businesses that will deny their foods/vaccinations/products are harmful. They have more money than you. Word of mouth and evidence is stronger than their PR and money. People will witness your child's health and believe.
Posted by: Deb in IL | July 12, 2008 at 01:33 PM