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Lookingat this picture now it brings back so many happy memories of our two happybabies celebrating their first birthday. Seeing Lauren put her finger on his mouth like this was so funny; herbeing a noisy chatty little girl and him a quiet, handsome boy.  This picture hangs in their bedroom and makesme happy and sad at the same time.  Iremember how happy they both were as they giggled in the same cot and yet it soironic because Jude now aged 4 has actually never spoken to his twin sister.

 Our sonJude was diagnosed with Autism in January of this year. I read once accept thediagnosis and move on – to do that is to give up my beautiful boy and I willnever do that!

Jude and his twin sister Lauren were born at 29 weeks - the miracle was getting him here- the rest will just take a lot of hard work and he is up for that!

Jude turned 4 in June 2014 and thankfully a very good friend introduced us to A.B.A VBwhich stands for Applied Behaviour Analysis which is a scientifically provenapproach to helping children with Autism. Basically it involves Jude havingintensive one to one therapy at home daily after Nursery with a qualified andfully trained A.B.A Therapist. His therapists are teaching him to communicatewith his family and Teachers in Nursery using PECS; to understand and followinstructions, to play and most importantly to play with his sister and this isjust the beginning!  It breaks my heartthat his only communication with his sister is when he catches her eye andsmiles and they both run around the house chasing each other.  She is a chatty, happy little girl who lovesher brother and would give anything to talk with him. Unfortunately for nowwhen she tries to smother him with attention and affection trying to get anyattention from him he leaves the room or lashes out at her –she simply doesn’t understand – she is so desperate for his love andattention!

 However,now that we are doing ABA VB part of his daily programme involves having hissister in his therapy sessions where he is encouraged to sit face to face withher at a little table and encouraged to participate in sharing games,exercises.  Just the other day I saw himgive her a little look that had real connection and recently to when they runtogether he laughs so loudly and looks her straight into her eyes.   All of this is happening because of herinvolvement in his ABA VB programme – I am so hopeful for the future for themboth!  We cannot give up on this!

When early intensive intervention with ABA is used, almost all children makesignificant gains. Since the early 1960s, hundreds of researchers havedocumented the effectiveness of ABA principles and methods for building a widerange of important skills. A.B.A ensures that each child overcomes theirindividual barriers to learning enabling them to reach their full potential asa human being!

Jude loves his A.B.A team. The therapy is play based and he has gone throughmany bottles of foam and bubbles! He is proving to be a very fast learner andhe is making great progress in many areas! With A.B.A he is getting the chanceshow what we knew was inside all along.

We as a family our committed to do all we can to provide as much therapy as we can provide and have decided do tosome fundraising to make sure he gets allthe therapy he needs.

 Thank youfor taking the time to read this and if you have made a donation or words of support!   I’m very proud of Jude and it is a privilegeto be his Mother x

Should we exceed the target amount (or if we do not raise enough funds, or if they cannot be used for any other reason) the funds raised will go to the general funds of Tree of Hope to assist other sick children.