You Go Girl

I know a young woman who has taken a road mostly un-traveled. With nary a whisper of encouragement or support from the health profession, she took on the slippery slope of championing an alternative route to curing her little girl’s autism.

I can report thus far she has largely succeeded, where the medical community has largely failed. I can also tell you that it ain’t over and that it’s much tougher than it sounds, particularly for those who don’t have the inestimable advantage of wealth or connections.

This began when her daughter was 18 months old. Mom identified something peculiar. Others noticed it too. A detachment. Repetitive speech. Fear-driven behaviors. Gastrointestinal pain and upset. Aversion to noise and social interaction. What could be happening? The pediatrician was unconcerned. But not the young mother. Mothers know.

So began the wrenching journey of discovery, rugged choices, and applying treatments that institutional medicine does not endorse or flippantly ignores.

Making matters worse, the treatments do not immediately reinforce their results, requiring one to agonize often in isolation over every single decision. You see, this “cure process” is counterintuitive, i.e., destroy (yeast) then rebuild (probiotics in the gastrointestinal system). It requires the will of an Olympic athlete, the patience of Job, and a determination that would fuel any business to success.

Mistakes? Yes. But, not too many. Straight line to success? Hardly.

Lots of stops and starts, obsessively watching, learning, and searching, comparing and testing hypotheses, and lots and lots of discussion with people in like situations and experts in the field (sound like a business?).

The difference between this challenge and a business is that unlike autistic little girls, businesses don’t lose sleep from meds, they don’t cry uncontrollably, they don’t hide frightened in a corner or slap and hit a loved one, and they don’t beg you to stop making them take yet another dose of something or other.

The level of passion that drives a parent to save their child is a level no business ever could inspire.

So, what better passion to harness into a business than this?! This incredible mother and her ingenious husband will turn their passion and success into a business one day, built around helping other parents and kids escape the terrible and lonely fog of autism—a disorder that can be effectively managed and perhaps even cured.

This, my friends, is not business as usual, it’s absolutely Oprah-esque!

Comments

[Ted Brooks]

Nice story. It does takes a village. I know that this woman has had a lot of help from other great people.

As I progress along the age track, I'm believing more and more that that's what life is all about. Helping those who help others, so the other being helped can help others...and well you get the picture..