April is Autism Awareness month and I am really honored to be able to share the story of Korbin’s Journey, as told by his mommy:
About Korbin’s Mommy: I grew up in Bailey, Colorado and moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 2001 to attend college. During college I met the man I eventually married. After we got married, I wanted nothing more than to have children. We waited several years until we both had started our careers and moved into a house. After two pregnancy losses, I became pregnant with Korbin. It was the most nerve racking experience of my life. Like most pregnant women, I wanted to do everything just right. I followed all of the doctor’s recommendations to fulfill a “healthy pregnancy”. I experienced morning sickness well into 16 weeks pregnant, but from that point on, I loved every minute of carrying Korbin. The day Korbin entered this world, my life changed forever. I had never felt a love like that before. Since Korbin was our first child, and neither my husband or myself had spent very much time around children, we did not recognize any signs of delay immediately. We always thought that we lucked out because we had this beautiful baby boy, who rarely cried and was easily entertained simply by watching the ceiling fan. When we learned of Korbin’s delay, we did everything we could, based on what we knew at that time, to help our son meet milestones. That included seeking answers from other medical professionals, changing his school/daycare environment, starting intervention services, and enrolling him in any activity to help build skills Korbin was lacking. In 2013, we welcomed Korbin’s sister, Dylann, into the world. Dylann has showed no signs of delay and already possesses much compassion for her older brother. After Dylann’s arrival, it became very difficult to care for two children, one with special needs, without any family support. As such, we decided to move back to Denver, Colorado to be closer to family. This has been the best decision we could have made. Korbin, Dylann, and myself are surrounded by more love than ever before. My husband and I continue to progress in our careers and battle many emotional and financial obstacles raising a child with special needs. We have been able to obtain more therapy services for Korbin. Our biggest challenge is finding appropriate child care for him. We have been lucky enough to cross paths with two wonderful women, who have been nothing short of a miracle in caring for Korbin. Dylann continues to thrive and loves spending time with her brother and cousin. Korbin’s family is currently trying to raise money to send him to the Early Start program at Adam’s Camp, which will be of huge benefit to Korbin. You can read more about the camp and Korbin here.Korbin was born a healthy 7lbs 5oz baby. There were no complications during the pregnancy or delivery. After Korbin’s 9 month check-up, it was determined that he wasn’t meeting many of the milestones. Korbin was evaluated for early intervention services at that time, but did not qualify because he was not showing a significant enough delay. Shortly after Korbin’s first birthday, he had surgery to place tubes in his ears and remove his adenoids with hopes to cure the chronic ear infections Korbin had been suffering from since roughly 5 months old. We also hoped that with a healthy Korbin we would see more progress in his development. The surgery cured the chronic ear infections; however, Korbin still was not meeting milestones. After recovery from surgery, Korbin was re-evaluated for early intervention services, at which time he qualified for services. Korbin’s early intervention began with weekly therapy sessions with an infant/toddler development specialist. Korbin also transitioned into a school/daycare environment designed for special needs and non-special needs children. Korbin was beginning to show more progress, but was still significantly delayed. Korbin began receiving physical, occupational and speech therapy on a monthly basis, and remained working with his developmental specialist weekly. Korbin participated in a local gymnastics class to encourage gross motor skills. He also completed two sessions of baby sign language to encourage communication.
Shortly after Korbin turned two, he underwent genetic and metabolic testing, both of which had no findings. Korbin also had an MRI scan of the brain to identify any abnormalities. This too came back with no findings. Korbin had surgery to remove his tonsils in hopes of helping the eating/swallowing issues he deals with daily. Unfortunately, the surgery did not have much effect on his ability to eat and swallow similar to children his age. Korbin has frequented many medical doctors in his short time including, 3 neurologists, 2 ENTs, 1 orthopedic, 1 ophthalmologist, 2 endocrinologists, 1 psychologist and 3 primary care physicians. Korbin still receives care from many of the above medical doctors on a bi-annual basis for monitoring.
At age 3.5, Korbin was evaluated by a psychologist, who diagnosed him with low functioning autism and severe Sensory Processing Disorder. Korbin continues to receive speech and occupational therapy through the public preschool, where he is in a special education classroom. In addition to the services received through the school system, Korbin also receives weekly occupational therapy and bi-monthly speech therapy through a private provider (private pay insurance will only allot a certain amount of therapy sessions per term, in which Korbin’s family is still responsible for the co-payment). Korbin enjoys all of the therapy he receives, along with the therapists providing the services. Korbin faces many struggles day to day. He is non-verbal and only communicates through a few signs and adheres to a strict gluten and casein free diet. With the services provided from the wonderful therapists working with Korbin daily, he continues to show so much progress week to week and always has a smile on his face.
This story is part of my Weekend Wisdom series which shares the experiences and stories of other parents. April is Austism Awareness Month and C-Section Awareness Month, If you have your own story you’d like to share, fill out this form and I will be in touch!
