Father of autistic low functioning boy aged 11 with a school assessed mental age of 2 Geoffrey was born at full term following a healthy pregnancy and straightforward delivery on 30th August 1997। He was a large, bouncing baby boy weighing in at 9lb 12oz and we were delighted. We had our second son and our two year old,, had a brother and future companion and we looked forward with optimism to normal family life with two boys.At 5 months old his Health Visitor recorded that he was a "Bright sociable child" and at 7½ months "Meeting milestones well". He loved to be picked up and cuddled; his eye contact was excellent and he responded to us readily with beaming smiles and crows of delight. He was very vocal and developed a considerable range of babble. He also showed great interest in his brother, watching him, crowing at him and, as soon as he could crawl aged 9 months, trying to follow him about. At 9 months Geoffrey, who ate well and would try anything we gave him, started to try to feed himself with his spoon and before his first birthday we were hearing "da" for "dad".Geoffrey received the MMR vaccination on 22nd September 1998 at the age of 13 months. He reacted to the vaccine, becoming feverish and developing a very persistent cough. His skin, which had always had a tendency to be dry, flared up into itchy red patches and he went right off his food and became very quiet and withdrawn. After two weeks he had not regained his appetite for the foods he had previously eaten with relish apart from milk and fromage frais which he craved and ate to the exclusion of almost everything else. He was still quiet and withdrawn and he was now avoiding his brother. He now disliked being picked up and would stiffen and scream in protest. Over the next months we waited for his speech to develop but this never happened; the babble stopped to be replaced by strange noises that did not resemble speech and Geoffrey no longer responded to his name. He still giggled but there would be no apparent reason for this and the giggling came and went in strange fits. He would have bouts hyperactivity. He started to be plagued by repeated ear infections and life became a round of illness, visits to the GP and antibiotics. By the age of 22 months we were aware of the possibility that Geoffrey might have autism but the diagnostic process was protracted and it was not until January 2001 at the age of 3½ that Geoffrey was diagnosed with autism.We had no idea what to expect, no idea how severely Geoffrey was affected and nobody could tell us. All we were told, and this with absolute certainty, was that there was no cure. His condition continued to deteriorate post diagnosis and we had no idea how much worse he was likely to get. He still succumbed to regular, severe ear infections and was also subject to inexplicable bouts of diarrhoea which alternated with bouts of constipation. Geoffrey's behaviour became increasingly bizarre and difficult to manage. He appeared to have no comprehension of anything we said to him so we couldn't make him understand consequence, danger, appropriate behaviour or even communicate to him our plans for the day. We lived on our nerves constantly trying to second guess him and prevent accidents. His behaviour lurched between bouts of extreme hyperactivity and bouts of being completely "zoned out". A range of bizarre self-stimulatory behaviours, spinning, flapping and squinting also developed. Geoffrey's condition did not improve over the years. In fact as he grew older, larger and faster in many ways he became more difficult. Autism is an unyielding condition and it is our family that has had to adapt over and over again to manage and contain Geoffrey and keep him safe. Geoffrey is now a handsome nine year old and severely autistic. He lives in his own world with very little language and his social development is profoundly impaired. He has no relationship with his older brother at all; they live in the same house and that is about all that can be said. His behaviour is still as outlined previously but sleep disturbance means he is frequently awake for half the night and so are we. Much of his behaviour is perceived as inappropriate now that he is older and this is going to become even more of a problem as he enters his teens. We have no idea how puberty will affect him. Autism is a devastating disorder and has been a tragedy for Geoffrey. It has destroyed his potential and deprived him of the life he should have had. We, his family, have been deprived of Geoffrey. We never doubted that MMR triggered Geoffrey's autism and in 2002, we joined the group legal action against the manufacturers of this vaccine but the legal aid funding for this was withdrawn in 2003. We will never give up on our son. We will never give up seeking treatment for his condition and we will never give up our pursuit of justice for the destruction of his life. Geoffrey is doing HBOT daily if we have the time around 2ATMS Geoffrey is GFCF sugar etc free in his diet.
GEOFFREY – REGRESSION INTO AUTISM

13½ months Started restricting his diet. Having previously eaten wide range of food became extremely limited
Lost eating skills – stopped using spoon


Over next 6 months Started avoiding his brother – wouldn’t play or interact with Tom
Noticed increasing isolation
“Distant” look on his face
Increasingly difficult to engage his attention
Increasingly difficult to get him to look at camera for photos
Lost interest in toys – became interested in strange things
Shoelaces
Sticks/rulers
Socks
Was not developing speech
Cheeks and ears red all the time
Constant ear infections

22 months Concerns raised by his nursery. Consulted Health Visitor. Brought forward 2 year check

Play skills very limited
Very little imaginative “pretend” play
Becoming quite hyperactive
Posture seemed a little strange – could be very “floppy”

Had ears checked because of history of ear infections. Found to have Glue Ear

26 months Grommets fitted.
Further terrible ear infections
No speech developed

February 2000
Aged 2½ Started process of seeking diagnosis – GP/Speech and Lang Therapist/Community Paediatrician/Raeden Child Development Centre

January 2001
Aged 3yrs4mths Diagnosed with autism after week long assessment at Raeden

FREQUENCY AND AGE
OF EAR INFECTIONS DIAGNOSIS ANTIBIOTICS

15.05.98 aged 8½ months Bilateral Otitis Media Erythroped
01.04.99 aged 19 months Bilateral Otitis Media Augmentin

30.06.99 aged 22 months Diagnosed with Glue Ear and
referred to ENT
06.10.99 aged 2 years 1 month Grommets put into ears

25.11.99 aged 2 years 3 months O/E left grommet Amoxycillin 125mg
Blood clot right grommet
02.12.99 aged 2 years 3 months Above infection persisting
15.12.99 aged 2 years 3½ months Infected left grommet Augmentin Duo
Right grommet blocked Gentisone HC drops
with old blood clot


21.12.99 aged 2 years 3½ months Infection persisting CO-amoxiclav and
Gentisone HC Drops
07.02.00 aged 2 years 6 months Infection in left ear CO-amoxiclav
11.02.00 aged 2 years 6½ months Above infection clearing CO-amoxiclav
21.07.00 aged 2 years 11months Left Otitis Media with burst Amoxycillin 125mg
eardrum
Right eardrum red and inflamed
Cervical glands enlarged
25.10.00 aged 3 years 2 months Otitis Media Amoxycillin 125mg
17.05.01 aged 3 years 9 months Ear and throat infection Amoxycillin
Cervical adenitis
01.11.01 aged 4 years 2 months Ear and throat infection Amoxycillin
Cervical adenitis

*Please note that this record of ear infections and prescribed antibiotics shows the illnesses documented in Geoffrey’s medical records. Geoffrey also had ear infections that are not mentioned in his records because I did not always take him to the GP every time I suspected he had an ear infection.

In his first year of life I am certain that he had two other ear infections preceding the one documented on 15.05.98. I must stress thought that this is only according to my memory and I have no note of this. I remember him showing signs of an ear infection after Christmas 1997 when he would have been exactly 4 months old. I also remember suspecting that he had another ear infection in March of 1998 when he would have been 6 months old. In Geoffrey’s second year I am sure he had infections other than those listed above but I was wary of taking him to the GP and being prescribed course after course of antibiotics. My recollection of Geoffrey’s second and third year is that he seemed to have ear infections with alarming regularity, probably about every 4 to 6 weeks. As he got older the infections seemed to become worse and that was when I started taking him to the GP a lot more and dosing him on the prescribed antibiotics.


MEDICAL TREATMENT GEOFFREY HAS RECEIVED

All the antibiotics listed above plus:

Nystatin aged 5 weeks for thrush in his mouth and Timodene for thrush on his bottom
Timodene aged 4 months for thrush on his bottom
Canesten HC aged 1 year for thrush on his thighs and bottom. Also aquaeous cream and Oilatum for dry skin
Hyd Cort ointment aged 13 months for eczema



ILLNESSES BEFORE 12 MONTHS OLD

Thrush in mouth and on bottom aged 5 weeks old
Suspected ear infection aged just short of 4 months old
Thrush on bottom aged just over 4 months old
Suspected ear infection aged about 7 months old
Ear infection aged 9 months old
Thrush on bottom and thighs just before 1st birthday


ILLNESSES AFTER 12 MONTHS OLD

All the ear infections listed from 01.04.99 aged 19 months to 01.11.01 aged 4 years 2 months



Geoffrey always reacted to antibiotics, which is why I was not keen to give them to him. He invariably would have diarrhoea followed by the most vicious nappy rash. This always happened