| Friday, April 8, 2005 Family raises autism awareness By ANNE HOLLIDAY / Era Reporter When Brian Bond's first son was born, he dreamed of all the things fathers and sons do together but, when he learned his son has autism, he realized his dream wouldn't turn out the way he imagined. "He was going to be my fishing buddy, my hunting buddy," Brian said. "But now ..." Autism is a developmental disability and neurological disorder typically affecting the processing, integrating and organizing of information. It significantly impacts communication, social interaction, functional skills and educational performance. Because of autism Matthew didn't even say "daddy" until he was 3 years old and didn't speak a complete sentence to his father until he was 9. "It hurts," Brian said of not being able to have the relationship with his son that he envisioned. "It's taken 12 years to understand, to realize the full impact of what (autism) is." Matthew doesn't even like to be hugged or touched, except on his good days, Brian said. "And on his terms," Matthew's mother Kimberly Bond quickly added. Although Matthew has trouble showing affection, he does have good relationships with his younger siblings, Craig and Mikayla, and the Bonds include Matthew in all of their activities. That's not to say they haven't had to make adjustments. Brian told Matthew he would be there when he got home from school on the first day. He currently attends School Street Elementary School. In the fall he will attend Floyd C. Fretz Middle School. When it was time for Brian to leave work that day, he was told he had to work overtime. He tried explaining that not being there for Matthew, or any change in something he expects to happen, could trigger a seizure. When his employer still told him he had to work, Brian quit his job. "Employers need to have a little more understanding and flexibility," Brian said. "We're just trying to raise our kids." Seizures are just one obstacle. Because Matthew doesn't process information as quickly as some people do, his actions are sometimes perceived by others as a behavioral problem. The Bonds said they have even had strangers tell them their son needs to be disciplined. While some members of the general public may not understand, Matthew's teachers have been really good, Kimberly said. Others in the community have been helpful as well, namely people involved with Little League baseball. Matthew hits the ball every time, Brian said, but he can't process the fact that he's supposed to run to first base after he hits it. A coach or volunteer runs with him. "Everyone (in Little League) has been very accommodating," Brian said. The Bonds hope that by sharing their story they will raise awareness about autism and help others understand it. They also hope people will attend an autism awareness rally being held Tuesday in Harrisburg as part of National Autism Awareness Month. Since Brian left his job and the family has a set daily routine, Matthew has gone as long as six weeks without having a seizure. He has had as many as 40 a month. The Bonds have learned that if they can prepare Matthew for the events of each day he's less likely to have a seizure. Kimberly Bond is currently making a book that will help "walk him through his whole day." It's just about the size of an appointment book and will include a page for each day of the week and pictures of the planned activities for that day such as church, a school bus and school. Kimberly Bond teaches autistic children at Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems and says working with them is a release for her because she gets to do with them what Matthew won't let her do. "We're 'Mom' and 'Dad,'' she explained, explaining that he thinks "We can't teach him. Only his teachers can teach him." Comparing Matthew's brain to a computer with many files Kimberly said, "We know the information is in his head (but) it's in a different file ... where you wouldn't expect it." "A lot of times it's a big guessing game," she said. "We have to have constant awareness," Brian said, adding "But I wouldn't change him." |
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| This is a true story about my son Matthew. When he entered Kindergarten he was not getting the services he needed on a regular basis. We failed our child because we didn't do everything we could do to ensure his success in school. We had to find a way to communicate what his needs were and why.We decided to write this book All about Matthew in hopes it would help the teachers to better understand Matthew and his history with seizures & Autism. The hardest thing a parent can do is to watch your child fail because people just dont understand him. On 6/15/2000 we took Matthew to the Child Development Unit at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh and found out that he is Mildy Autistic.
Kim Bond Brian Matthew Bond II or better know as Matthew . He was born on January 2 , 1993 with no complications. He developed normally with walking at 11 months and some talking at about 12 months with his favorite word ,purple , however other words were slow in coming such as daddy which did not come about until he was almost 3 years old. At thirteen months Matthew had a febrile seizure , then he had several seizures at 15 month of age due to the Chicken Pox. Matthew continued to have problems with febrile seizures so he was prescribed Phenobarbital which he took daily for about six months. We took Matthew to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. They decided that since the seizures where caused from fever that there was no need for him to be on the Phenobarbital and that we should only treat the fever and not the seizures. Then for 9 months Matthew was seizure free. During that time Matthew began speech therapy as I (his Mother ) was about the only person who could understand him. The Speech Therapist diagnosed him with Developmental Apraxia of Speech. He made great strides in his speech , however he was unable to produce the K and G sounds and he made some grammatical errors. He was then discharged from the V.N.A (Visiting Nurse's Association) speech therapy program for the summer. Matthew then began having seizures that were not fever related when he was 3 1/2 years old. He was admitted to the hospital (Bradford regional medical center) where he under went many test. Matthew had between 15 - 20 seizures during that day. There was consultation with Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh and Matthew began taking Tegretal and as it was increased Matthew began having drop attacks in addition to his Gran Mal seizures. We took Matthew to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh where they decided to discontinue the Tegretal and begin him on Depakote. As they increased the Depakote to control the seizures Matthew began experiencing problems with his platelet count. He was placed on an additional medication that would enhance the Depakote without having to increase the Depakote. The medication was Lamictal. As increases were made in each medication Matthew had several problems , he would become overly tired , his platelet count would drop and we would receive phone calls after having blood work done to keep Matthew from running around and should he bump his head take him to the Emergency Room immediately. Needless to say, Matthew missed out on great deal of play time where he could run and jump ect. After a Emergency trip to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, it was determined to discontinue the Depakote and once he is off this to begin Topamax in conjunction with the Lamictal. When he first started the Topamax he experienced definite mood changes and with the start of Kindergarten , he became overwhelmed. Again his medication was adjusted and the mood swings decreased. Matthew has received Speech Therapy through the V.N.A ,IU9 and during last school year. He has made little progress in a year. His language skills continue to be delayed. Things that we have found to motivate Matthew is being able to earn things such as movie time, renting a movie, earning a new train or a new book on trains. He does well with many visual prompts to help trigger his memory. We use sign language cues for his speech as he leaves words out such as can, is , it , ect ; because he wants to get his point across as fast as possible , which makes his speech unintelligible. Another thing that we use to encourage him to change his behavior is the Magic1 ,2, 3 . When Matthew is doing something that is unacceptable we tell him that he has a 1 , if he continues we give him a 2, then if he continues we give him a 3 and he is directed to his bedroom until he calms down and follows directions. Matthew also does well if directions are kept simple and said slowly. We also have him look at us when we are giving directions and we have him repeat the directions back to us to insure he has an understanding of what to do. Matthew is a little boy who has so much going on in his brain that it takes him time to figure out what it is that wants to say and do. When given enough time he is able to do what is expected of him. He responds well to verbal praise and encouragement as well. He knows that for some reason he is different from the others, but does not understand why.Matthew desires to be like the others of his peer group , but does not know how to be. |
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| Dec / 23 / 1999 |
| ******Read All About Matthew the Original website ****** |
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| Bradford Era Newspaper 4/8/2005 Scroll down to read story |
| Olean Times Hearld Newspaper 4/7/2007 Scroll down to read story |
| Saturday , April 7, 2007 By Kate Day Sager Son’s first-ever visit from a friend gives Bradford family a victory BRADFORD, Pa. — This week was special for 14-year-old Matthew Bond because for the first time ever a friend came to his house, hung out with him and watched videos. For most kids, this would be no big deal. But for Matthew, who has autism, the visit was one of the most important events to happen in his life so far. Most autistic children find it difficult to reach out to other youngsters — and the world in general. On Thursday, Matthew’s parents, Brian and Kim Bond of Bradford, spoke about their oldest son’s condition in conjunction with Autism Awareness Month, which is observed in April. The Bonds also hope that by sharing their story, others will become more aware of varying degrees of autism, how it affects children and the help that is available. A visit to the Bond household this week found Matthew’s parents, his brother Craig and sister Mikayla excited for Matthew. That’s because running around the house with him was his buddy from school, Kyle Robinson. Mr. Bond said he learned of Matthew’s new friend when his wife called him at work Wednesday night. “Kim called me and asked if Kyle could spend the night with Matthew and I said, ‘Yeah, go ahead, he can stay’ and hung up the phone,” Mr. Bond said. “But then I thought about it a minute, called her back and said, ‘Did you just say what I thought you said?’ Nobody has ever had the guts to say ‘Matthew’s my friend and I don’t care what you think.’” For the Bonds, events such as this are the small steps their son has been taking towards living a full life. Mrs. Bond said that as a baby, Matthew appeared to be developing normally until the age of 3. It was then that his parents noticed he wasn’t speaking like other toddlers his age. When he developed multiple seizures his parents knew that something was wrong. “We went to a neurologist and he told us, ‘We’ll get the seizures under control and you’ll have a normal child,’” Mrs. Bond said. However, when he started school, Matthew stayed to himself and played with blades of grass while other children ran around and interacted in the playground. Mrs. Bond, who works with autistic children at Beacon Light Behavioral Light Health Systems, said that she had suspected that her son could have the same developmental disability. But it was only after visiting neurologists at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh for several years that specialists finally determined Matthew had autism. He was 8 at the time and his parents knew they had a lot to do. One of the first steps was for Matthew to have a vagal nerve stimulator implanted to help control his seizures. The stimulator, described as a pacemaker for the brain, only was implanted after the Bonds battled an insurance company to fund the procedure. The operation was scheduled to take place until the insurance company backed out at the last minute. In response, the Bonds contacted the media and publicized their plight. Within days the insurance company changed its position and agreed to pay for the procedure. The incident inspired the Bonds to become more vocal about autism, set up a Web site and start an Autism Support Group in Bradford. The group meets at 6 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the First United Methodist Church and has a good following. The family also participated in an autism awareness walk last year out of the area, and they are forming a team this year called the “Bradford, Pa., Walk for Autism.” The group will walk in an autism awareness walk in Jamestown, N.Y., on Sept. 16. “With Matthew, we started a little late but we’ve made a lot of progress,” Mr. Bond said. While Matthew has therapeutic staff support at Floyd C. Fretz Middle School, he also works on computers in technical education classes and is enrolled in general gymnasium classes where he is encountering new friends like Kyle. The parents noted that one family member who has helped Matthew come out of his shell is the family dog, Brandy. Adopted from the McKean County SPCA, Brandy has been a best friend to Matthew over the years. The Bonds said they hope to continue to get the word out on autism as they believe it is reaching epidemic proportions. According to statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control, autism is now affecting one out of every 166 children and strikes more boys than girls. Mr. Bond said that thanks to research, autism is being detected earlier in children, thereby providing earlier intervention. “We were given Matthew for a reason, and if it’s us talking about it and making other parents realize they’re not alone,” she said, that’s what the family is prepared to do. |
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