Josiah's Journey

As parents of a child with special needs, you will try just about anything if you think it will help your child in any way. Even a tiny improvement is worth any amount of effort. That's why Josiah's morning routine when he was younger was rather daunting.

Once awake, he would get an adhesive eye patch placed over his right eye. His glasses would go on. He would wear a pair of too big headphones around his little head, held in place with an elastic head band. He listened to his sound therapy C.D. through the headphones. His diaper was changed. Immediately afterwards the brushing began. A small hand-held brush would be stroked up and down Josiah's arms and legs, a technique we learned from one of his therapists. Following that, were deep joint compressions on his arms and legs, fingers and toes. Then he was dressed. Orthotics were velcroed on over his socks and slid down into his shoes. Then he ate breakfast.

During breakfast there were oral exercises to be completed. Teeth brushing was last and then off he went to his special needs preschool.

The entire process took close to an hour. There were 4 sibings needing attention as well during Josiah's morning routine. It took 2 of us to manage. Thankfully, Rick had flex time hours and was able to be home most mornings to help. I'm not sure how it all would have gotten done had I been left to do it all alone.

As Josiah got older, his routine changed somewhat. It eventually evolved into one that required a specialized diet. He could only consume foods made from scratch. Nothing from a can or a box, consisting of all organic ingredients. Additionally, he received 14 supplements in varying quantities at each meal throughout the day. What a time consuming ordeal that was. I remember making yogurt from scratch using goats milk. It involved specialized equipment I had to purchase on the internet. It involved expensive ingredients I could only find at a health food store about an hour from home. It involved hours of labor. Josiah hated it. Wouldn't touch it. Not even a bite. We ended up throwing it all in the trash.

During this period of time, Josiah became ill. During this time of eating only healthy, organic foods, made from scratch, he lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. He became extremely lethargic. He became listless and slept for hours on end. He refused to wake, even for sips of water from a dropper. He ended up in the hospital. He was severely dehydrated. He had a stomach virus. He stayed for a week.

When he came back home, we fed that boy anything he wanted to eat. We stopped giving him all those supplements. We gave up on the idea of a specialized diet altogether.

Nowadays Josiahs routine is a much simpler one. He requires help with every step of the process. But, there are no more brushings. No more deep joint compressions. No more sound therapy. No more trying to find the miracle cure.

We gave up on trying to find the answer. That thing that would 'fix' our little boy. He is who he is. A wonderful, precious soul, sent straight from heaven. He blesses us each and every day with his joyful spirit. His smiles and hugs melt hearts. We are happy to have Josiah in our lives.

We love him just the way he is.