Journey through 18 years of autism (Sean and Rocky)

[S4ndy71]

thanks for the great video!I have 2 autistic boys,they are 9 and 19.Older has epilepsy and he is more autistic,little one can speak....hugs and wishing all good...

[jadisha2603]

pane pane pane

[calibirdiful]

This is a great video. It's really inspiring. I too am a fan of Sunny, but your family videos are enjoyable because your family is unique. I really learned a lot about autism by this video. Thanks for sharing your family with us.

[jenny9580]

I found this because I'm a huge fan of Sunny but it was an incredible thing to watch! It's really amazing how much of an impact the ferrets had on your son.

[wolfysluv]

@jenny9580 "Touchdown" lmao!!! Yah, that batbird is a trip, huh?? Thank you for watching him, I think he's the bomb and it makes me so happy to share and others feel that along with me.

Thanks for bearing with this movie, I know it's long. And thanks a million for taking the time to comment.

[ferrets14]

this is so touching! even for me. especially the part where sean was holding rocky and explaining about him, that part almost made me cry it was so precious! :)

[polkadotpants]

I really enjoyed watching this, I definitely think Rocky was the main factor in Sean picking up progress so quickly; I have aspergers and have always had pets, dogs, cats, ferrets; at the moment I have mostly exotic pets; chameleons, monitor lizard, snake, tarantula, scorpion, tropical fish and 2 cats. Animals have always helped me overcome my issues, they distracted me from having meltdowns and held my interest enough to limit my stimming. I hope Sean continues to make progress; best wishes

[wolfysluv]

Hi I know you! You're Dominics mom right? Thanks so much for coming to watch my son. You know, I erased most of my sons tantrums. I think it's because when I showed doctors it hurt too much to hear them say he wans't autistic, etc.. Ya know? I did keep the lining up cars, and everything else. I kept all the photo's in a tiny book I'd bring to each dr's appointment. Hey know what? There was an English study years and years ago where they measured how an autistic child relates.

[wolfysluv]

They measured eye contact, etc. Well, they reacted to humans the least. Dogs were somewhat high on the list of having no reaction. But exotics were markedly higher. They think it's because they don't overwhelm you with touching, noise, and other stimulation. They gently engage you. Makes sense.

[polkadotpants]

@wolfysluv Yep that's me! I almost deleted all mine too but then one day I got on youtube after a really bad one, determined to find someone I could relate to having to deal with the same issues, but there was just nothing like it; it was hard to do so I thought I'd start the ball rolling and show people it shouldn't be such a taboo subject, it's important for people to see that it happens to other families too.

[polkadotpants]

That's really interesting, I definitely agree, other than scratchy feet sometimes they're very gentle and mild natured, especially snakes. I LOVE snakes; my earliest memory of them is being about 6 in my dad's snake room with a giant python around my neck, their skin is completely gorgeous, people think they're slimy but they're just very smooth, wonderful for sensory input :)

[CritterCampMom]

amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mustelidmama]

Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together; it is so educational! I have followed your stories about your son on the FML for quite some time and now I have a better perspective on what you all have faced with his autism.

[ZeroMatrixGuyver]

Once again, this just proves ferrets are indeed, quite truthfully, little angels in fur. My prayers go out to you and your family and quite overjoyed at Sean's, nothing short I might add, of a miraculous*SP* turn around. I've seen some of the other videos with Sean & Rocky..and I must say it's indeed quite..shocking. =3 But just proves teh powa of teh woozils! Bwahahah! *Yes, has two ferrets of his own..so knows allll about their powas xD* Oh..and..*worships teh video game skills* =O Keep it up!

[rentacrip]

Well as you might beable to tell i too have cp , I know to well about the false hope doctors give . An all my life i have been around all different types of Disablity, seeing your son grow up in this video an the progress is amazing. Through all of this you must remeber that theres always a reason for what we go through, when we are going through it the road might not be clear . I can say with 100% confidents that ur son will inspirer ppl he might never meet . you should be proud of him .

[wolfysluv]

Sean was lucky to have such a mild right hemiparesis (spelling). Once again, they only wanted him to have an hour of physical therapy a week. WHAT? Okay it takes an Olympic ice skater with top notch coordination and muscles 8 hours a day to learn a "jump", but this country wants to give them 1 hr a week, at best 30 mins a day of hard core therapy? Whatever ya know? Still, once again .... so much luck involved with the resolvement plus radically early intervention is important.

[rentacrip]

If i would bump into sean on the street i can say theres no way i would know he was like that . remember some of the greatest leaders from the past have had some sort of disabilty .

[wolfysluv]

Mimicing or the fact that he learned IQ tests (going from 69 to as high as 129 given a good day). Stupid, stupid stupid people. He didn't get the full dx until fourth grade thanks TO GOD due to a good woman that came into our school system. Yes, by then Sean was doing great. But you know what? this family wasn't. We were alone and isolated. She gave us validation, support, and Sean a key to even more services.

Okay. Geez, can you believe I did this in the comments? Like a waterfall.

[rentacrip]

Im totally amazed at this video,have u shown this to any Doctors.Maybe you might have found a way to break though to people who have this . When he started talkin in this video i almost fell out of my chair. truly an awesome video thank you so much for sharing . To Sean Never stop You were put he on earth to help others , God Bless .

[wolfysluv]

I tried. You know how those things go. It gets scoffed at (spelling?). What "hurt" though was that when I went to show the autism comminuty would you believe they just ignored it? I tried soooo hard because way back then, Sean was only 1 in 10,000. But we all knew it was way, way more prevalent and there was no "face" to autism. Most autistics were mentally retarded. Not like Sean. He was perfect and the results of recovery were awesome (not just cause of Rocky). I was in touch personally

[wolfysluv]

the founders of all the great and famous org's now like Unlocking Autism, etc. They didnt' care. I was shocked because the only person who seemed to "get it" was Dan Marino who was putting his kids face out there to show the world, autism isn't a stereotype of a mentally retarded child sitting in a corner rocking. Anyway, i was shocked to see the ferret community pick up on his story. And support my family more than even my own at times. They believed us WITHOUT these stunnding films.

[wolfysluv]

I want to now examine what you said. First, there are so many "snake oils" out there it's sick. And I get sick of each parent pushing it like it was a cure. You can't talk to them logically. I didnt' want to be one of those people. I have the common sense to know there were many reasons why Sean got better. Many. 1) age 5 is a "magic" number for them. Many come around at 5-6 and make a little or big leap. Then again a few years later. 2) despite NO one willing to dx the "A word" and our

[wolfysluv]

living hell because of that, we pushed on and treated him 100% as such and made sure he had applicable treatments. What a flippin fight. 3) we drove three states looking for therapists and drs we knew Sean responded to hugely. We were evicted by an apt from debt and qualified for the projects. we were willing to go to that distance. 4) upon finding a few jewels (proffessionals), they went all out for us/Sean. I rode buses in nearly 100 degree weather every day to get xtra therapies for him on

[wolfysluv]

top of schools. Then, I'd do sometimes FOUR hours of therapy at home (for his cp, yes he had very mild cp and was in braces). 5) we pushed for therapies that we KNEW made a diff and didn't listen to people pushing ABA and other conventional things that just didn't "fit" him. Such as the sign language that we were STRONGLY told not to do. 6) Sean had a dad, me and a brother who dedicated themselves to him. BUT I never let it suck us down into his vacuum.  I took a stance. "If Sean ever pulls

[wolfysluv]

This family down worse and worse and if someone gets "hurt" (like me who spent weeks in a mental hospital triggered by the lack of support for us), I won't do it. I won't let an entire family go down for one. Not if that one is showing no hope. If there are people/residential that can help him more or make him happy and plus saves my other child and hubby from "dying", so be it". 7) medicine. Meds helped A LOT 8) I'm out of numbers. 9) LUCK, there is such a thing.

[wolfysluv]

Last, I'd like to say the video is a little misleading. That is Sean "typically". He has horrible times and great at times. He wasn't mute "all" the time. Just more than half the time. He "could" speak (and mimic very well). By age 5 he caught up to a 3 year old in speech. And so forth. By 8, when Rocky came, he was about 3 years behind. But not totally nonverbal at all. It's just when Rocky appeared, he connected with the world finally. Totally connected emotionally.

[wolfysluv]

Rocky made him RECEPTIVE to us. So alllllllllll of those factors, hit him at once. It was like an "aha" moment and everything kicked in. The talking, as awesome as it is, much of it is mimicing believe it or not. Just on a super high level. Right after Rocky he was still a couple years behind. From there, he made progress on his own little curve. Sean, like a broken tv set, seemed to chatter whenever we went to a dr! Making us look like nuts, ya know? They didn't see the high functioning