28/11/2023
I will give you a glimpse into our early days, before we knew something was wrong.
My husband and I are entrepreneurs. We run large companies and our first son was born in April 2020.
As you know, this was a difficult time for us all. With not having my son around other kids - I really had nothing to compare to.
I am so embarrassed to say, he started watching tv around 8 months or so. As we got busier, he'd watch tv for most of the day. Some days, I still cry about how I let this happen.
Many ask what I noticed aside from the speech delay. Here are some of the things that were happening:
-Zero words, he just had one sound that he would constantly say and that was "Abu"
-Not responding to his name
-He had an attachment to me only. He never went to my husband
-Hyper focus, he would notice everything
-Spitting when angry
-Head banging when excited or angry
-Excessive spinning
-Felt no pain, he would get hurt, and carry on as if nothing has happened
-He couldn't jump
-Had no coordination, he would run into things
-He had zero fear
-He could not cover a blanket
-He could not wear socks
-He could not wear shoes
-He could not wear a hat
-He only ate one thing, chicken nuggets. He refused to eat anything else. He had a major issue with textures
-Couldn't clap
-Would spin every wheel he could find
-Poor eye contact
-No interest in other children
-Rapid finger movements, sometimes he would cross his fingers on both hands
-Would run off in public
-Would want to run into any body of water he saw
-Would play with sand and continuously drop it right infront of his eyes
-Shaking his head violently
-Biting
-Playing with my knees and elbows
-Pushing his head onto me
-Grinding his teeth
AND so much more
These take me way back and I still get some anxiety mentioning them.
We went to several drs and neurologists. I researched like crazy.
They told us to stop tv. We did. He cried like he was in physical pain for 3 weeks, non-stop. When I say we stopped tv, it wasn’t just his shows. The tv was completely off. We didn’t watch tv.
We had to go through extensive therapy, OT and Speech, chiropractor. Everything. You name it. I did it.
He started talking after a few months. He now knows abc’s, counting, shapes, colors, animals and sounds, days of the week, and SO MUCH more.
All of the behaviors listed above have stopped.
He now plays with toys appropriately. So much has changed.
Whenever I tell parents to switch off their tv, some get very upset. Not all children are the same. The tv gives them a dopamine fix. This made it so hard for my son to focus and learn. We are still in therapy now. He is on 10+ word sentences.
His vocabulary is very large but the only thing we are struggling with now is the back and forth conversation.
It was hard not switching on the tv. I got a full time au pair who was outside playing with him when I was busy with work and doing lots of activities to stimulate his brain.
I’ve done so much research over the past two years and I’ve tried so many different things.
I’m no expert and I do not offer medical advice. I share my experiences and tips on how I helped my son progress🫶🏻
We have just started seeing a wonderful Dr and his treatment approach is much like what I researched that was only available overseas. The help in South Africa is very conventional and I feel like our children are labeled too quickly.
We have just done several tests and will plan a more targeted approach once they are back.
Super excited and will share updates with everyone soon 🫶🏻
Don’t give up hope❤️
Here’s a cute video, this was also a way for me to get him to learn body parts 🥰
