Autism Healed for Life

When a child is diagnosed with autism, it can come with questions, fears, and doubts. The challenges can seem insurmountable, and many parents are left feeling hopeless, unsure what to do next. But the diagnosis is only the beginning—with hope and with faith, healing is possible.

In Autism Healed for Life, author Angela Gachassin shares the moving chronicle of her and her son’s daily experiences as they struggle to conquer his autism symptoms. Glenn was a nonverbal child diagnosed with severe autism at the tender age of two. Yet with very little help from doctors, Angela incorporated lifelong skills and strategies into his daily life, which allowed him to live with endless possibilities to soar! By the age of fifteen, Glenn had progressed so far that he was a guest speaker, representing his school at a district conference. Angela shares how she integrated speech, occupational, sensory, and food-aversion therapies together with play and other social self-care skills, showing parents how to become their child’s best advocate and mentor. Yet through it all, she reveals how focusing on the finished work of Jesus Christ can provide ultimate healing.

This book includes detailed information of the different types of therapies that were most effective for her son, daily activities and tasks you can do at home, how to conquer sensory difficulties, reduce the frustration and behavior issues autistic children may endure, effective ways to communicate with a nonverbal child, building social interaction skills, assuring them of feeling safe and secure, the individualized evaluation plan for school years, and information about therapeutic and academic skills to further progress a child from a curriculum program for autistic children that she has previously written and used with Glenn.

Glenn is now healed from all these autism symptoms, behaviors, and characteristics he once endured. The most difficult hardship was my son not having verbal speech until almost seven years old. Speech developed slowly and began with only one word at a time, then a group of words, a sentence, and finally back and forth conversations with accurate speech pronunciation at eleven years old. Toe walking, hand flapping, rocking back and forth, glaring facial expressions, avoiding eye contact, not responding to his name when called, were daily occurrences. He was fixated on items, licked nonfood items at times, sucked water from small wet washcloths, displayed repetitive behaviors, played spinning wheels on toys, needed self-soothing items to decrease anxiety and support sensory issues, disliked items touching his skin like band-aids, stickers, sand at the beach, tags in his clothes, and only wanted to wear his favorite clothes items daily. Occasionally, head banging, standing under a doorframe next to a door staring at the three wooden sides of the doorframe for minutes at a time before walking forward in our home. He behaved fussy and was very uncomfortable around crowds, public places, doctors’ offices, and school campuses. Glenn cried and was afraid during haircuts, and always covered his ears with his hands during loud noises from the vacuum, lawnmower, and voices on intercoms at stores and businesses. He only let me hug and hold him for many years, toilet trained at six years old, tremendous deficits in fine motor skills, diagnosed with dysgraphia at ten years old, illegible handwriting until twelve, unable to button clothes items, zip pants, and tie shoelaces until twelve years old. Glenn was a finicky eater, preferring to drink liquids rather than eat solid foods, and eventually became severely iron deficiency anemic. He had a hematologist to oversee his health issues and had blood lab work done monthly for two years to check his hemoglobin levels while taking Fer-In-Sol twice daily to be ingested by liquid and swallowed. His baby teeth became stained and discolored from this medication. Giving my son this awful tasting medication twice daily for two years was heartache to me. Can you imagine drinking straight iron? Just the smell of the medication turned your stomach. As you can assume from his list of difficulties, lack of many skills, and health concerns, taking care of Glenn was a difficult task to confront daily for many years.

As dedicated parents, families, teachers, and caretakers we can help children progress to their highest potential and conquer their autism deficits and difficulties. After a fourteen-year journey with my son, I am a parent who can declare such truth! I am honored and privileged to share a multitude of things I’ve done over the years to make life much easier and less frustrating for Glenn. His journey is remarkable, and an encouragement to families seeking healing for their own children!

A child with autism can make tremendous strides and improve through daily activities and simple tasks at home that parents can illustrate, teach, and model. Families can be confident they are creating the best opportunity for their child to a life free of autism symptoms. Rest assured this book offers an endless amount of wisdom, discernment, and understanding.

This true, inspirational, and motivational fourteen-year journey of my son will give hope, encouragement, and comfort to others. I understand what raising an autistic child is like on a day-to-day basis. Be prepared to laugh out loud, feel different emotions, and learn many new strategies, skills, and techniques as I take you through a mothers’ perspective from desperation to determination to help heal her son.