One Year Later

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September 2017 our nightmare began.  

Without warning, Josiah violently pummeled his head frequently and screamed loudly, suffering in some sort of horrendous pain.

We had no idea what was wrong.  We had no way to fix it.  We could only suffer alongside our son as he tortured himself, praying desperately for answers, doing our best to block the blows.

Josiah was in the hospital 3 times in 4 weeks.

He is a teenage boy with Autism we were told. There is not much anyone can do. 

The specialists suggested he wear a helmet.

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Figuring It Out Ourselves

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Josiah wears a helmet 24/7.  He has 5 different ones. Two are soft helmets to be worn at bedtime. Three are hard shell helmets, some with face guards to keep him from punching himself.  Without a helmet, Josiah punches his head, cheeks or chin constantly.  It seems to be almost a reflex he can’t control.

We work on ‘cool hands’ to encourage Josiah to put his hands in his pockets and keep them there for a bit.  We use a weighted vest, wrist weights, compression tubes, and gel padded gloves throughout his day to keep him safe from himself.

His quality of life since September 2017 has steadily declined.  We’ve gotten to a better place the past few months (as of April 2018) but without protective supports in place Josiah would self harm continuously.

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Wings for All at George Bush Intercontinental Airport

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What an AMAZING day!

Two months ago Josiah was extremely self injurious, aggressive and destructive.  His quality of life was deplorable. His future at best, looked bleak.

This morning, he boarded a plane.

Josiah checked his baggage, secured a boarding pass, breezed through security, walked a very long way towards the gate, rode an electric cart, waited in the boarding area, walked through the plane, buckled his seat belt, enjoyed a snack on board and even visited briefly with the pilot in the cockpit before deplaning.

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Thankfully, He Wears a Helmet

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Josiah wears a batting helmet with a face guard.  He wears it all day, every day.  It’s big, bulky and cumbersome.  It makes eating and drinking a bit more interesting, navigating around the metal guard, but it works.

It protects his face and ears from self injurious behavior.

Prior to the face guard, it was extremely difficult to protect Josiah from himself.  For reasons still unknown, he constantly punched his ears and cheeks.

It’s heart wrenching to witness someone inflict self harm and not know how to help. When it’s your child it’s devastating, overwhelming and exhausting.  It was beginning to feel hopeless.

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