Nicolas' Story

Parents of most four-year-olds are addressing behaviors such as lying, name-calling, apologies, and separation anxiety; those same parents celebrate achievements such as pre-reading skills and sharing. In contrast, we celebrated the moment of January 25, 2004 when 4½ year old Nicolas asked his father, "Where is mommy?" That was his first unprompted question. At the same time, we were searching for ways to break him of the habit of standing in the middle of the room for minutes on end while watching a sock dangle from his fingertips. Is he retarded? Not at all. He could identify all capital letters of the alphabet between age 2 and 2½; he recognized all lowercase by age 3; and he counted to 20 before age 3. The issue here is that Nicolas has a form of autism.

Autism Diagnoses 10 years ago 1 in 10,000 children 5 years ago 1 in 500 children NOW 1 in 166 children Affecting 1 in 68 families More prevalent than Down Syndrome, childhood cancer, and childhood diabetes combined

You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby!
We will never forget seeing Nicolas for the first time. The orphanage workers brought him to us and placed him our arms. We were in Orenburg, Russia, seeing our son for the first time and yet we felt like we had known him from birth. Nicolas became our son on June 5, 2000, 10½ months after he was born. It was a long awaited moment. He came home and was adjusting and developing normally until he reached 2 years old.

"Nicolas, Where Are You?"
Around age 2, he seemed to be falling behind in his speech and appeared to be retreating into a world of his own. We allowed for some speech delay due to spending the first 10 months of his life in the orphanage. As that year progressed, we saw the changes become more evident as Nicolas seemed to withdraw and spend a lot of time playing by himself and not interacting with us.

We were relieved when his ear nose and throat specialist detected fluid in his ears and recommended PE tubes, which Nicolas received 2 months before turning 3. However, his speech did not completely return, he was still withdrawn, and his idiosyncratic behaviors seemed to continue.

On June 26, 2003, 1 month before his 4^th birthday, Nicolas was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder—Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), which is on the autism spectrum. Autism and related disorders involve neurological and behavioral deficits in children, impairing their abilities in social interaction, language, communication, cognition, and imagination. It is not always detected through casual observance. Autistic children can, and often do, look like typical kids. However, not getting the proper treatment for an autistic child can mean the difference between developing into a productive, contributing member of society, or needing institutional care and public assistance (your tax dollars) one's entire adult life.

"Somebody, Help!"
Thankfully there is hope for Nicolas. A therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) gives children with autism the skills they so desperately need. Many researchers have studied ABA therapy; repeatedly it has been scientifically proven to help children with these diagnoses improve and even reach a level of recovery. Nicolas began ABA therapy in September 2003. Since that time he has made remarkable strides and continues to amaze his therapists and us each and every day. We have never seen a little boy with such determination and with such an infectious laugh even in the most demanding of times.

In addition to ABA therapy, Nicolas receives occupational therapy, he is on a special diet, he takes numerous supplements, and he will soon need to begin speech therapy. Unfortunately, though, insurance does not cover the most costly of interventions that Nicolas needs. Moreover, there is a narrow window of time in which ABA therapy is most effective for children like Nicolas.

So How Can You Help?
You can make a difference in Nicolas' life by donating toward his medical expenses. You can make purchases from the sponsors shown on this site, who give a portion of their sales to help Nicolas. And you can tell friends and family about this website.

A medical expense account exists exclusively for Nicolas' current and future treatment. 100% of all donations sent to this account will be used ONLY for these treatments. Nicolas needs $2574 per month for the therapy, supplements, equipment and medicines not covered by insurance.

A small donation can go a long way. For example, if 103 people were to give $25 per month, Nicolas' treatments would be fully covered. From March, 2004 through May 30, 2005 he has received $10,415 in donations toward the total needed to get him through May 2005. In the event that he would receive more funds than needed, the remaining proceeds will go to FEAT-NT and the Autism Research Institute.

On The Horizon
We are certain that Nicolas is going to recover from this condition one day, but not without the therapy he needs so desperately. Please help him beat autism.

As his parents, we thank you.

Scott and Alicia, for Nicolas