Hello,
This is our personal story about our journey with Darcy: Our gorgeous son who was born in 2003 . He was a beautiful placid baby boy with these huge enormous big blue eyes which gazed out on the world, watching what was going on and sweet and gentle.
Of course, like dutiful parents we immunized our children because we didn’t know any better. Didn’t know that there could be side-effects that could have a devastating effect on children. Our older son Hunter didn’t have any reaction to any of the immunization shots for which we are so thankful.
And on the face of, neither did Darcy. He didn’t have a temperature, a rash, convulsions, absolutely nothing to give any indication that he had had a reaction to the immunization. It was only when he reached the age of two years, the terrible two’s, that in hindsight some years later, I realized that there was an issue.
Darcy would throw the most terrible tantrums. He would scream, lie on the ground, turned himself as stiff as a board the way that children can do, cry and be completely unreachable. You could see that he would go into a place inside himself and no process we tried could change that until he had worked through it within himself . He wouldn’t go to anyone else except for me, I was his security blanket. He rarely responded to other people attempting to make contact with him. Hugging or touching anyone else was out of the question and getting him to do something else outside of Darcy’s time was just asking for a tantrum or would end up in him completely ignoring what was asked of him.
We tried everything we possibly could – cajoling, cheering him up, being funny, treats and more but very rarely would our attempts work and it wasn’t until he had worked through whatever it was that he was going through, that Darcy would come back to us again.
These tantrums wouldn’t just happen once a day, they happen three, four, five times a day and it was like walking on a knife edge, I would never know when they would happen. The emotional toll on all of us was really tough, really hard and emotionally heartbreaking because we were living on a knife edge of never knowing when Darcy would have a tantrum, or, as we called them a “hissy”!
We felt so helpless because nothing any of us did seemed to make any difference, his tantrums were like a locomotive gathering power and speed.
It was heartbreaking to see his older brother Hunter trying to compassionately cheer Darcy up. He would pat him and try change his mood and give him cuddles. He would bring him something that Darcy would like to eat and I admired his persistence as Hunter was only 2 1/2 years older.
I grew to dread the times that Darcy would become unreachable and I felt so helpless because I couldn’t make a difference and as mothers, we all want to make a difference in our children’s lives and to be able to make things right and even as I write this eight years later, my heart still breaks and tears are falling softly down my cheeks because on some level I still feel as if I had failed my son in some way, even though the outcome has been so wonderful. Perhaps it is simply the residue of emotional trauma….
Darcy was a closed little boy. He absolutely adored his older brother and was always following him around, emulating what Hunter would do and he had the most infectious giggle, and his big blue eyes would shine with mischief. but, he would never hug us, or his grandparents and for that matter, no one else . He didn’t like being cuddled and he most certainly never said I love you to anyone,ever. He was quite happy just being. It was always very difficult to get him involved in activities or games.
Then by chance I had read an article in a magazine about the link between autism and immunizations on children and how a small percentage of children can have an autistic reaction. And then as these things can happen by coincidence, I began to hear stories through word of mouth about children who have been affected by immunizations. Some of these children had been marginally affected and some have been affected so terribly that their family’s lives would never be the same again and the potential of a beautiful human being had gone.
I began reading and I have always been interested in natural therapies. I read about homeopathy and the effects of homeopathy on children who have been affected by the immunization, whether they were showing signs of being autistic, ADHD, ADD,PPD or Asperger’s.
And as I began reading, so much of Darcy’s behavior began to make sense, the horrendous temper tantrums, the inability to reach out to people, the lack of communication, the lack of “normal” play/role-play which children do, the lack of social contact.
When Darcy began preps at our local school, the degree of emotional upset for all of us increased enormously. every morning our hearts were filled with dread with what we knew was coming and we lived in constant anxiety. The preps teacher was marvelous and I have no doubt that it must have been incredibly difficult for her also. After all no one likes dragging a kicking and screaming incredibly upset child of their mothers leg every school morning. And that is what would happen.
Some mornings Darcy would happily get into the car and we would go to school, sometimes we would get to school and we would be followed into school by him, sometimes he would start crying all the way to school from the second we left home. There were days when I literally had to force him into the car to go to school and I felt terrible and so completely out of my depth. Here I was, completely out of my depth, a grown-up, completely unable to deal with my son of 5 years old! It is a very sobering experience I have to say. I had run my own dress design business for 20 years and I can unequivocally say there was no customer who was as tough or tougher to deal with than Darcy when he was in full force of behavior!
Hunter would get so upset and will try to calm us both and it must have been so hard on him. He is an extremely compassionate and lovely child. I would take Hunter to his class and then Darcy to his. As we would walk towards his classroom, he would get stiffer and stiffer as we drew closer . After we put his bag away, did some reading and the bell went, he would start crying as if his heart was breaking and clinging like a limpet to my leg. It required myself and the teacher to prise him off my leg and she would hold him back as I hurried from the class, his crying echoing in my ears and my heart breaking.
There were times when the principal actually had to go out the car and prise Darcy out of the car because I simply could not get him out . There were times when I was so emotionally devastated that I sat in the staff room sobbing until I could get myself together sufficiently to drive home . Often I would arrive home feeling completely shattered. There is nothing you can read to prepare you on the how hard an emotional journey children can be at the best of times and particularly those who have been affected by childhood immunizations.
During school he would often throw tantrums when he couldn’t understand the work or what the teacher was asking him to do, sometimes who knows what would set him off….he would not contribute to class discussions and he most certainly didn’t actively make an effort to play with his classmates. Darcy has always had a great love of nature and animals and for him the best place was and still is to be on our farm. Nature is extremely important to him and very grounding, to this very day!
Is there a Link Between Autism and Immunizations?
I had been seeing our wonderful local homeopath both for myself and Darcy. I mentioned to her that I have been reading about the possible link between autism and immunizations and I was really relieved to hear that she had done a lot of work in this area and was very well aware. She tested to see which vaccination Darcy had a reaction to and it was the MMR immunization. The other vaccinations were fine. She tested using kinesiology and worked out again using kinesiology which homeopathic remedy and how many doses he would need.
We drove home and I gave Darcy his first dose of the homeopathic remedy. For a few minutes nothing happened. And then he threw the most extraordinary tantrum.
He turned himself inside out with crying and the sheer force of it was frightening for us all, Darcy included. He raged, his face turned the red, he threw himself on the floor and crying crying crying as if his grief knew no bounds. We were shocked at the force and depth of his reaction to the remedy and I did ring the homeopath, rather anxious as to why he had such a reaction.
She felt it may have been a combination of him being extremely sensitive and the remedy being a little too strong, but was extremely reassuring, saying that it was actually a really good reaction. It was a good reaction because it meant that Darcy was breaking down the effect of the immunization within his system. After half an hour he had calmed down and was completely exhausted, soft, floppy and in need of hugs and support which we all gave him in bucket loads. I think we were all as shocked as he was.
He had three more courses of remedy to work through, so of course we were wondering, oh dear I wonder what is going to be the reaction next time…
Over the next few days I can’t say that very much changed, perhaps there was a little easing in his moods but the tantrums hadn’t.
However within a week’s time we had a very different story. Eight days later for the first time ever, Darcy went to school and when I went to leave he went off quite happily and got his book out after saying goodbye to me with a hug. For the first time ever I could walk out of that classroom without a screaming crying distraught child clinging to my leg and it was heavenly, so incredibly amazing that I actually felt shocked, dazed with disbelief.
A few days later his teacher, who was not aware of what I have done homeopathically, asked to speak to me and I had to admit, my heart was beating harder with apprehension. So you can imagine my immense joy and relief when she said to me “what on earth have you done with Darcy he is such a different child in the classroom”! He is joining in to class conversations and discussions, he is communicating with the other children and being proactive in doing so. He isn’t throwing tantrums when he doesn’t understand or want to do a task anywhere near as much or as often.
From that day of undertaking the first course of homeopathic remedies Darcy has blossomed and our son has been returned to us. He will always be different, a sensitive soul, clever, bright, funny, witty and thoughtful and oh my goodness, we treasure the floods of hugs, the cuddles, the kisses and mummy or daddy, I love you that he comes up to us and says now completely spontaneously. These days Darcy has friends and is doing really well at school, he loves art and choir and overall enjoys school. He is a deeply thoughtful child with a love of nature and all the creatures on our farm. He has a thoughtful perspective on the world and clearly shows his deep thinking with his thoughtful comments.
Does he still throw tantrums you may be asking?
The answer is, yes he does but these days they are far and few in between and we have learned that it is best to leave him until he has worked through his emotions and then we can talk about what was upsetting him. We have learned what works best for Darcy which is really important in being able to help him grow and feel comfortable and confident in his life.
It has been a huge journey and an intensely emotional one with many deep valleys of despair and huge learning’s. I am so glad that I took the course I did for Darcy and did the reading that I did . Often people would be openly derisive in my ideas with helping Darcy with homeopathic remedies, perhaps because they couldn’t understand what I was doing, perhaps because it was threatening for them, but I know in my heart I have taken the right course of action, very simply because the results have been amazing for us.
And I hope in sharing our story, our journey with Darcy, that if we can inspire another parent to think differently, try an alternative healing method and other possibilities for their children, then I will be so pleased to have made a difference for someone else. As proactive parents we can make a difference for children, we need courage, strength and the ability and willingness to look at different avenues to help our children reach their full potential . There is so much assistance available and information to help us as parents whose lives have been touched with autism.
From our hearts to yours,