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ETHAN’S HEALING FROM AUTISM
By Sam Hays
Page
1
Ethan’s First Two Years
Born in Jun 2003, Ethan was a very contented baby and people always marveled at his quite nature. He wascontent in his own little world. As he grew, he became obsessed with Hot Wheels cars and playing with them in onlya few specific places in the lounge. My wife Jackie and I joked that he would make a great car park attendant. Nomatter how many times we waved to him, we could not get Ethan to wave back. He did not say much for a longtime. Ethan did not walk until 19 months. When he finally did start, he loved walking down the aisles in a shoppingcentre looking out the corner of his eyes. He walked like that for 12 months, looking sideways. Ethan wouldconsistently do the opposite of everything he was asked to do. We had his hearing tested and it was perfectlynormal. At one year old, Ethan became intolerant of loud noises or crowds of people. Although manageable, all thiswas very confusing to us as parents, until his twin brothers were born…...
Ethan’s Brothers Arrive
When Ethan was 2.5 years old his twin brothers were born and all hell seemed to break loose. Ethan refused towalk. We had to carry him everywhere. Any small progress he had made with words stopped. His eating andsleeping habits and many other developments regressed. He refused toilet training. Tantrums were common. Wesoldiered on through that first dizzy year with twin babies and Ethan’s difficult behaivour. Ethan was sounmanageable in the church Sunday school I spent every Sunday morning isolated with him in the church coffeelounge while Jackie looked after the twins. We almost stopped attending church for that reason but I’m glad wedidn’t. We understood the value of community and our need for it especially during this difficult time. My daughterAshleigh (then 19) nannied the boys 20 hours per week and this helped us survive that year.One saving grace that year was Ethan starting long day care two days per week near my work on the RAAF Base.This gave Jackie some dedicated time with the twin boys which really helped. Ethan loved driving in the front seat ofthe car with me (not recommended with the passengers air bag as I later discovered) and watching and listening asoncoming cars whizzed passed us. He insisted I drive with my window down so he could get the full effect of thenoise (this became quite a challenge in winter!). Not much conversation was had on those trips but we had a gooddriving routine and we sang Ethan’s favourite songs (with a lot of help from CDs).
Moving House and Pre-School
When Ethan was 3.5 years and the twins were about to turn one, we moved house and community and renovatedthe new place. Looking back, this upheaval was a significant change to Ethan’s routine and great stress for all ofus. As the twins boys got more active, Ethan became very territorial and aggressive towards them. He would kickand hurt them constantly. When they began taking their first steps, Ethan would knock them down. There was noemotional connection between Ethan and his little brothers at all. We constantly refereed between them. So thetwins did not walk until they were 18 months old. Ethan attended pre-school that year and he found one friend whohad ASD that he played with to the exclusion of all other children. His play was disruptive in the group setting. Wegot prompts from his friend’s parents, the preschool staff and Ethan’s grandmother to have him assessed by apediatrician.
Ethan (left) and his friend Don at Pre-school in 2007making rare eye contact
 
ETHAN’S HEALING FROM AUTISM
By Sam Hays
Page
2
The Diagnosis
When Ethan was 4 yrs old, he was diagnosed with autism; in one way Jackie and I were sad but in another way wewere relieved that there was finally a reason for all these difficulties. We were told that Autism would be life longdisability for Ethan but with the right early intervention, Ethan would develop, but would always have challenges. Wespent the next six months getting all the early intervention support established while learning more about thisdisability. There was a massive amount of information available and many agencies offering help so it was hard toabsorb the information and know what was most important at the time. Caused by deficiencies in neural pathwaysin the brain, Autism generally manifests in three distinct areas: delayed speech development, delayed socialdevelopment (eg. No eye contact, lack of empathy, inability to read social cues and emotion), andrepetitive/obsessive behaivour (eg. Playing only with one toy to the exclusion of all others). Of course no childrenwill manifest all the same traits.
Ethan’s First Year at School
In 2008 when Ethan was 4.5 years, he attended the five day per week, fully funded early starters program at ourlocal public school. We knew this was going to be a challenge for Ethan but we had observed his positive progresswhen mixing with kids who were more advanced than he was. Due to his diagnosis, Ethan qualified for 20 hours perweek of teacher’s aide support at school. This was essential for his survival in the classroom, toileting, and on theplay ground - I thank God for the government’s generosity. Ethan was at the bottom of his school class in everyrespect; he had limited language, struggled to relate to his peers, and was very slow in his development.In April 2008 during a Christian conference in Sydney, I had a revelation that God wanted to heal my son fromAutism. As a Christian I always understood that Jesus was in the healing business, but I had not paused longenough throughout the diagnosis and support establishment period to consider that God’s healing might beapplicable to Ethan’s autism. I sensed God asking me this question:” Sam, what do you want me to do?” I said“Lord, I want you to heal Ethan of his Autism”. So from that moment on, I began praying in faith over Ethan for hishealing. A special team of staff at the conference also prayed for Ethan’s healing.
Ethan’s Healing Begins
When I returned home that weekend, I immediately saw small improvements in Ethan’s speech and behaivour. Itwas nothing spectacular but the changes were real and I was encouraged. God had heard my prayer by giving mea small sign within Ethan. I continued praying regularly for just a minute or so by laying hands on Ethan anddeclaring God's healing truth over his mind and nervous system, just as he was getting ready to sleep. There weremany ups and downs in the months that followed but
 
I thanked God for every small step forward for my son.Relatively rapid improvements kept happening in his speech, social skills, school work, and many other areas. Bymid 2008 his teacher reported that Ethan had been accepted by his peer group and that she was pleased with hisprogress. Although he was still at the bottom of the class in every area, we were encouraged by this report. I couldsee how God was working in Ethan and through his therapists, his teacher and our friends to accelerate hisdevelopment. See below how Ethan had a dramatic improvement is his colouring ability from Feb 08 to Sep 08.
Ethan’s colouring March 2008
 
Ethan’s colouring September 2008
 
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