Seven years ago our son Regal was diagnosed with autism. Autism affects a person’s ability to connect and relate with people. The world as we know it is a very uncomfortable, extremely challenging place to be for kids with autism. In order to cope, they develop behaviors that make them feel comfortable and safe. Most often, these comforting, repetitious behaviors are misunderstood, and children on the spectrum are isolated and often ignorantly mistreated.

My husband and I began a home program (www.regalswalk.org) in order to help our son reach his full potential. Our top priority was to equip him with tools in order experience a full life…comfortable in his own skin…pursuing meaningful relationships…and able to navigate this unpredictable planet we call earth.

Everyday has been an adventure. Through God’s help, tons of grace, and an incredible community of family and friends, we have watched our son make his ascent up this mountain. Along the way we have cried for him, challenged him, and cheered for Him.

Regal awoke this morning exclaiming, “Today is the big day! I’ve reached my goal Mom!”. What was Regal’s goal? To be in school for a full day. “Now I can go to specials, have other teachers, and go to more classes. It’s going to be so much fun…6 and a half hours!”. Yes Regal. You have reached your goal. A goal that others never deemed possible. But with God nothing shall be impossible.

So armed with love, faith and hope, we continue this journey up Mt Regal. Autism does not have to be a life sentence…truly a big day in the history of the Noye family!

It’s been a year of wonderful accomplishments for our young man, Regal Aaron Noye.  Regal will be 10 years old in November.  This summer he asked a certain young adult maiden to marry him!!! Can you believe it? Our formerly non-interactive, repetitious, locked in his own world son, asked a young, attractive lady to marry him.  Yes, he is coming into his own, and we are soooo very grateful (and YES, proud).

We enjoyed a wonderful vacation this summer:   Regal went to the water park; watched a very stimulating magic show:  played miniature golf, participated in a children’s camp and had a great time doing all of these activities.  Compare this to a prior vacation, two years ago when Regal was afraid to leave the room because “there were too many people out there”.  We are clearly excited and thankful.

There is still more that we are expecting from Regal.  This fall, he will be going to his local elementary school for a few hours a week.  We will still run our home program, implementing his Brain Balance exercises and continuing with Son-Rise as our foundation; however we are creating opportunities for him to interact with other children.   This is a huge milestone for Regal.   Being around other children will assist him in creating social relationships and to exist more easily with others around him.

Regal’s amazing developments have been made possible by your generous donations, encouragement and support. God has sent us beautiful angels to partner with us on this journey. Thank you. We are very grateful for your presence in our lives. Yes, it continues to be a marathon. We are continually faced with opportunities to exercise our faith, patience, optimism and hope.  Our confession remains unchanged.  We choose to believe that “Autism does not have to be a life sentence”.  We believe that Regal will reach his full potential.  We choose to go the distance, with him, for him, and for all those who will follow after him.

Well here’s a new thought. I am going to blog on a regular basis.  Why? Regal is amazing.  He’s constantly doing something that makes me shake my head and bask in the gratitude that immediately follows.

Like today, we were riding home.  Regal wanted to go to the store to pick something up.  I did not feel like it.  He began to debate with me about why he thought it would be a good idea for us to go at that moment.  It was a very persistent query and I was three seconds away from pulling over the car.  Then I realized, my once non-verbal, non-interactive, locked in his own world son, is having a heated debate with me.  That’s when the gratitude glow surrounded me and I was able to enjoy the banter, instead of getting annoyed.

Perspective really is everything isn’t it.  Oh and by the way, guess who ended up going to the store?

It has been an amazing year.  We have just completed the 5^th year of our home program.  It amazes me that we have been able to effectively implement and maintain  a stimulating, high energy, one-on-one, home based, child centered program for this long.  And for those of you who have had the pleasure of spending time with Regal, you can attest to the fruit of our labor, love, and patience.

The other day, I was reflecting on the things Regal no longer does.  Here are my top 10.

Regal no longer:

• Finger paints his bedroom walls with his BM
• Speaks in a language only Henry & I could understand
• Sits in the corner talking to his fingers
• Runs laps back and forth flapping his hands shutting everyone else out
• Is afraid to talk to people
• Screams bloody murder when getting a haircut
• Is afraid to go outside of the house
• Needs assistance in the bathroom
• Melts down at playgrounds, pools and amusement parks Stares blankly at his sister when she initiates play

I am watching my special son climb his mountain, with such courage and joy.  We have never allowed Regal’s diagnosis to dictate who is and what he will become.    We continue to search for innovative services and therapies that will challenge him in our home program.

In September, Regal will attend The Brain Balance Achievement Center (www.brainbalancecenters.com). The Brain Balance Program® is a clinically proven, 12 week program that has helped hundreds of children become more focused, improve their academic performance and enhance their communication and social interaction skills. It is an individualized and comprehensive approach to helping children with neurobehavioral and learning difficulties.  Over 1200 functions are tested (sensory/motor, biochemical and neuroacademic) and for the first time we will get a complete picture of every aspect of Regal’s function or dysfunction.  This is then utilized to design an individual activities program. It is truly an individualized treatment plan; no two children will ever have the same exact program.

We are extremely excited about adding Brain Balance to Regal’s home program.  He has come so far.  We believe this will assist us in reaching our goal of empowering him to embrace all that this life has to offer.

We thank you for being a part of the miracle of our amazing, special son.  We are asking for our “village” to rally around us and continue to support us in our journey. We ask for your continued thoughts, prayers, smiles, encouraging words, time, talents and monetary gifts^*.   They are invaluable.  They affirm us and give us hope.  They attest to a powerful truth, “Autism does not have to be a life sentence”.

Summary of Regal’s Progress Year 4

We have finished our 4^th year of Regal’s program (somehow we missed last year’s summary).  He continues to astound us.   The first two years of our program we spent 50-60 hours a week in the playroom; his third year about 40 hours a week.  This year we had 5 volunteers working with him 25-30 hours a week.  Regal is now able to benefit from more time outside of the room.   He is taking swimming, horseback riding and art classes.   We continued to hold our biweekly team meetings in order to discuss his progress and set goals for his continued growth.  The four categories evaluated are: 1) Eye Contact, 2) Communication, 3) Interactive Attention Span and 4) Flexibility

Eye Contact – Regal’s eye contact is wonderful.  He is looking at us all of the time.  The sustains eye contact for a duration of 7 seconds or more and spontaneously looks while talking and listening to another person.  This has enabled him to learn more, and truly take in the world around him.

Communication – What can I say? I never thought I’d see the day when I would have to ask Regal to take a break from talking.  It’s true.  There are some evenings where I ask Regal to give Mommy some quiet time and I am released from answering his endless list of questions.  Regal is VERY interested in details…places…people…events…dates…times…antonyms…synonyms…homonyms….all music to our ears.

Interactive Attention Span – This has improved dramatically.  We have been able to engage him for brief periods of time in simple games (i.e. – Hangman, Trouble, Hullabaloo, Scavenger Hunts).  As I mentioned earlier he participates in swimming, horseback riding and art classes.  This year he also rode his bike for the first time and we frequently take bike rides in the park.

Flexibility – Regal’s flexibility has always been an area of challenge.  He is now more open to trying new things.  He accepts new people in his world.  Although change is difficult for him, he is not as easily flustered when an unexpected schedule change occurs.  He continues to grow in this area.

Every  year Regal continues to grow and develop.  He is with us. He is present. He is looking at us… laughing with us…asking questions…embracing the challenges…working so very hard to understand this complex world.  He is our hero and our greatest teacher.  Thank you so much for your partnership and support.

Summary of Regal’s Progress Year 2

We have competed our 2^nd year of Regal’s Son-Rise program and the results have been amazing. This year we had 9 volunteers. We spent 50-60 hours a week playing with Regal in his playroom.  We had team meetings every other week to discuss his progress and set goals to help him to reach his maximum potential, based on his motivations.  There are four categories that we look at: 1) Eye Contact, 2) Communication, 3) Interactive Attention Span and 4) Physical Contact.

Eye Contact – In the category of eye contact we look at the Duration, Frequency and Quality.  When we began the program Regal displayed little of either.  At the outset of our program his spontaneous eye contact was, on average, 10-15 times (the frequency) for an average of 5 seconds each (the duration). Today, Regal has typical eye contact 80% of the time.  He is looking, talking and listening simultaneously.  His duration has increased to 10 secs or more during an activity or interaction.  The quality of his eye contact is attentive, focused and present 90% of the time with family and friends; 80% initially with others.

Communication – In the beginning Regal spoke only for requests and only in very short 2 and 3 word “sentences”.  By the end of Year 1 Regal’s communication grew as his self-confidence improved due to his mastery of social situations. He began to speak in full sentences using his expanding vocabulary to describe people, places, and events. Today he uses nouns verbs, prepositions, adjectives pronouns, conjunctions and articles of speech with sentence length and clarity.  He initiates communication, asking questions like who, what, where, when, how and why.  Regal has begun to engage in conversational loops.  Sometimes as many as 3-5 sentences in a conversation.

Interactive Attention Span – When we began the program we charted Regal’s attention span at approximately 2-3 minutes per activity (other than book reading, which he loves).  But by the end of Year 1 Regal had increased his focus to approximately 10 minutes per (non-book reading) activity.  By the end of Year 2, he not only loves books but can read practically anything you put in front of him.  His focus is pretty much at 10 min per activity, however his interests have broadened and he much less rigid and controlling.  He takes turns and is much more open to trying new things.  He will accept other’s initiated activities and is beginning to engage in structured games.

Physical Contact – Traditionally, Autistic children avoid physical contact and even when they permit contact they generally display no indication that common parental-child contact (i.e. a hug or a kiss) is enjoyable or wanted. Regal has always enjoyed physical contact because of his sensory needs. He loves to cuddle and enjoys receiving hugs and kisses from his parents and volunteers.  However, he would not typically hug or touch his sister Nia, running from her on numerous occasions.  Today, Regal laughs and cuddles with Nia.  He holds her hand, gets things for her and he allows her to be the “boss”, heeding her frequent requests.  He will also hug family and friends and give kisses on the cheek upon request.