Hope, dedication lead to cure for Bothwell boy
Published: August 26, 2003
Three years ago Laurie and Tom Mawlam’s son Tommy was diagnosed with autism. Seeking treatment for their son they met London-based autism treatment specialist Jonathan Alderson.
Alderson is an expert in behavioural intervention through his training in Son-Rise, an extreme approach focusing on three principles: energy, excitement and enthusiasm.
They believed in the possibility of a miracle, of a treatment, of a healing of Tommy’s autism.
“You’re looking for the threads of hope,” Laurie said.
“I had that right from the beginning. I thought, ‘You know, autism can be cured.’ ”
This Friday Tommy’s friends, medical team, volunteers, and family celebrated Tommy’s total recovery from autism.
The first step had been to create a therapy room so people could work with Tommy without him being distracted. The room was empty. Now everything is labelled, the room filled with Tommy’s own work.
A series of motivational slogans and posters provide encouragement. They read, ‘You never know what you can do until you try.’ ‘We are good, we are great, no one can beat us,’ and ‘Explore, dream, discover.’
Keeping the family motivated was a job by itself.
“Getting up and working . . . five to six hours a day with a kid who is not responding. You must motivate that family to stick with it another day,” Alderson said.
Alderson hopes and believes that in the coming years the medical community will change its belief that autism is not curable. He calls Tommy’s story rare but not unique.
“Tommy’s story is uncommon, but it’s not unique,” Alderson said. “He’s not the only one in the world that has been cured.”
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