What follows comes to us via Christine DeAmicis, a 500 hr. graduate of our Teacher Training. Christine teaches 8+ classes a week in the Syracuse, NY area. She specializes in Chair Yoga for Seniors and is now offering a Training in her methods.

Christine is a inspiring example of how a mother's courage, prayers, willingness to leave no stone unturned can assist their children in powerful ways. Here, in her own words, is the story of her son and their journey together. Prescribing medication has become such a reflexive response on the part of so many health care providers and many parents are taking counsel from their fears and anxiety. Of course sometimes certain options are called for but we have to be willing to trust our intuition, awareness, and common sense. This is what balance means and what it leads to is a more sane and sustainable future for all of us.

"My son was born in 1994 (the year Aspergers Syndrome was recognized as a disorder). From a young age, his nervous system was unusual but it wouldn't be until age 11 that he received the proper all encompassing diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome which explained it all.

"As an infant, he never cried for a vaccine shot, Never! As a toddler he would toddle over to me frequently for hugs, frequently. (I didn't understand it then but, His tactile system needed deep pressure.) As a child, he could not manage to learn to ride a bike. He could not master the balance. He was a discerning eater. Gerber baby oatmeal was the daily breakfast through the age of 4. He did not like the lumps in regular oatmeal. The texture of food was an issue.

"At a parent teacher conference in second grade, his teacher thought he was showing signs of ADHD attention deficit hyper activity disorder. We had him checked by a neurologist, he did not have ADHD. Side note: the neurologist wanted to put him on an anti anxiety med. We declined. This suggestion upset me. I was not going to put a young forming brain on brain chemistry altering drugs. (If you met my son, he is very laid back. There is not an anxious bone in his body.)

"Our path to healing started with seeking and finding pediatric occupational therapy. We continued to seek out specialists that tested Nick for many things and that could help us put the pieces together. Nick was very intelligent but could not focus in school and was not doing well academically. The test that started his road to success was the SIPT. It is an occupational therapists tool, the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test. It showed all his sensory system (nervous system) abnormalities. He was hyper auditory (loud music would give him a headache), hypo tactile, (he did not feel an injection, but a pinch was painful), His visual acuity was weak ( we needed to strengthen his eye muscles.) His vestibular (balance) and proprioception were not good.

"The prescription to help his sensory system was intensive occupational therapy. We went to a pediatric occupational therapist weekly for most of third, fourth and fifth grade. We had exercises as homework, along with exercises he needed to do throughout the school day, with the school nurse.

"The most helpful thing was Therapeutic Listening, prescribed by our Occupational Therapist. Twice a day for 30 minutes each time, Nick would wear special headphones designed with a high pass and low pass filter, so only certain frequencies would get through. He listened to specially designed classical music CD's; Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven. The frequencies used the auditory pathway to access the cranial nerves to make changes in the nervous system. His bioryhthms were off. He would sleep so deeply that he would wet the bed. He did not wake up for bodily functions. The first time he listened to the therapeutic listening CD was the first time he did not wet the bed. He was in the third grade. He continued with therapeutic listening off and on through the fifth grade.

"He also was diagnosed with fine motor delay, dysgraphia, and auditory processing disorder. We saw many specialists and benefited from many therapies. He had a speech therapist in 5th and 6th grade. For many years I would describe my frustration about finding help for my son as follows: "I feel like I'm blindfolded in a dark room with a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle and half of the pieces are missing." Now I understand why the symbol for autism is puzzle pieces. Aspergers Syndrome now falls under the umbrella of Autistic disorders.

"The one physician that I would encourage parents experiencing these kinds of difficulties to seek out is a Developmental Pediatrician. We saw one when Nick was in the sixth grade. He gave him the diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, which pretty much encompasses and explains all his symptoms.

"Happy ending......my son graduated form high school in 2012. He had been a member of the varsity swim team all four years. He went on to live away at college SUNY Oswego for 5 years and finished with both a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree in Business. He is employed full time at a bank as a float teller."