Power of Surrender

A couple of years back I met a father who has seen his daughter go from special needs to a very happy, typical child. I was so excited to find out how, and asked him, “What was the biggest intervention you did you help you get to recovery?”
I was expecting to be listening to speech on dietary interventions or biomedical protocols. But I was surprised that he answered, “We surrendered everything to God!”
I couldn’t grasp it back then. I believed I had to work super hard and do my best to get my twins to recovery…But I get it now.  
I now know that His love for me and my twins is greater than the health conditions that they have. Life is simple and easy. By His grace I have been lead to the easiest, yet most powerful autism interventions. He has made my journey so much easier. My twins have been progressing fantastically. Surely He will continue guiding me to become a better parent. I know that everything else that I cannot do, He will take care of! At last, I have learned to Surrender everything to God! What a powerful feeling 😉! 

Spot the Special-Needs Child???

One of the “controversial” principles of the Son-Rise Program® is that specials needs kids grow best in a distraction-free, one-on-one environment. That means keeping them at home, no parties, no crowded gatherings UNTIL the child can handle over sensory stimulation and can better relate to people.

I have never doubted that principle. Amor always responded well in a distraction-free, one-on-one environment like bed time. At school, when there are more kids and more parents around, I used to get puzzled why Amor couldn’t follow simple instructions, couldn’t hold a conversation, became irritable and could not transition to next tasks.

I happily chose not to go to parties with Amor. I also did not like the idea of Amor grabing party food out that was outside her special diet.

But today she’s ready…with just a bit more assistance. I assisted her at the beginning of the party so she could participate in games. 😅

When the relay games started, however, I watched Amor as she studied the kids in front of her. I felt confident that she didn’t need assistance to participant in the game. So I got video to capture the fantastic moment!….Now, try to spot the child with special needs.

You can hear me in the background cheering as if my daughter just won the Olympics! True enough, I know she is already a champion!

God is good!

“Mommy play with me”

First thing in the morning, Nathan asked me to wear the tarsier shirt. That’s the old green shirt with a drawing of the smallest monkey in the world and its large eyes. That is actually Nathan’s way of telling me, “Mommy play with me.”
   

I asked him where it was and if he could help me find it. He led me to my closet, opened the door, pulled out the shirt saying, “here it is!”I put on his favourite shirt for me, jumped into bed with him and played many silly games that HE INITIATED.  

Younger brother, Ian was next to us, laughing as he watched us. When I got the opportunity, I asked Nathan to invite Ian to play. Nathan obliged, “Ian squeeze hug please.” Ian was more than happy to give him his crazy squeeze hugs and continued to help me son-rise Nathan!

   
 
Imagine that. Four years ago, in the year that he got his autism diagnosis, I used to sing my song to him:

Do you know Mama Chris, Mama Chris, Mama Chris? She loves you very much. 

I was hoping that song would get him to understand that I was his mother and I was right there next to him loving him. It felt like the song was falling on deaf ears. It felt like my future was doomed.

But miracles happen and keep happening!

What a blessed morning!

Pushing buttons

Summer was spent with my family. I thought it was one of the nicest experience especially for Amor.  
Amor could look like a typical child who is simply stubborn. Sometimes we forget, and we take for granted that she still has special needs. She is still unable to fully express herself using the form of communication that is “acceptable” by our social norms. Her brother Ian, for example, easily expresses, “Can you play with me?” while Amor still has to find ways to get attention. She usually gets that attention by pushing people’s “buttons”. Yep…that’s my daughter!

Throughout that summer holiday, everyone was always busy. So Amor pushed those buttons to get attention. She would pluck and throw flower petals on the floor and call out, “Lola Elvie, look….” Because Lola Elvie was the one who made the beautiful flower arrangements. As soon as my mom entered the room, Amor would switch the lights on & off because she knew my mom would rush to her telling her to stop playing with the lights. She would toss and spill the cat’s water bowls and call out “Tita Sana….” because those where her cats. When my sister was around, Amor would kick the dogs, which are practically my sister’s children. My sister would give an knee-jerk reaction saying, “I won’t love you anymore if you do that!” When my sister-in-law heard Amor calling her name, she feared, “Oh, no I wonder what Amor did this time?”…That time Amor threw all of her cousin’s toys down the stairs. My brother though he was doing a good job keeping his cool while Amor kept trying to find that perfect button to push. He was…until Amor came over to hit her cousin on the head 😁. That made my brother’s eye just twitch a little while he was still trying his best not react.

It was my sister’s words that made me think and express to her that in common situations, people are going to have a hard time finding reason to even just like Amor. If my family were not able to love Amor, who then will? And it’s precisely the unconditional love that Amor needs right now to continue her journey and hurdle over her special needs and get to recovery.

With time and more explanations, my family did great! They all learned to turn off their push buttons. And yes, Amor kept trying and trying until it was no longer fun because all the buttons were off. And no matter how “naughty” she might have seemed, they learned to love her even more. 

I thought it was a nice opportunity for everyone to understand and appreciate Amor better. I’m also amazed at how smart Amor is at really understanding everyone and finding what it was that made each person tick.  

In the photo, Amor in a purple dress  and her loving extended family. 

 

Gift of Healing

Amor had fever last Friday. Nathan had fever last Sunday. Last night was Ian’s turn.
With all kids all I did was Jin Shin Jyutsu (energy healing) and the wet sock technique. Fever was gone after holding my kids for about 20 minutes (a little longer for Nathan’s fever).  

The fever medicines are still on the cabinet. Today they are coughing but essential oils are doing the trick.

I was always a worrywart especially when my kids get sick. I have never been so relaxed and confident in healing. God designed our bodies so perfectly. Our bodies instinctively moves towards healing. I should have known this earlier in our journey. But that’s ok, now I do.