Testimonial III

I'm writing this as my son, Joseph, goes through his third integration (period) following the Dynamic Listening System program. He is a 3 1/2 year old on a diagnosis of autism. He was non-verbal and almost entirely caved-in by ordinary stimuli when he began his program in June 2004. We couldn't take him anywhere for fear of his creating a public catastrophe.

Now, four months later, he is an open, responsive and happy LISTENING little boy. Although his words are still few, he is learning at a pace I never would have thought possible last spring. He gestures, uses pictures to communicate and his eye contact is clear and meaningful. Not a day goes by, no matter where we are or what we are doing, where he dose not do something new or something better than he did before. He is no longer arrested in his learning process and is now what I call a sponge. Every day, he grows neurologically closer to his chronological age and, I am thrilled to say, will be entering preschool later this fall. Again, I would never have thought these goals were remotely achievable six months ago.

Now, Joseph accompanies us everywhere and he is curious and exploring all the while. Since his defensiveness towards the environment has decreased so much, he now runs, cavorts, touches, smells, tastes and simply experiences instead of cowering in my arms. Of course, he is still working on resolving his condition very hard, but now he wins more than he loses and things are in the process of changing for him. I know this is because I see his delight in his accomplishments.

The auditory pathway is the most important one and also the most difficult to fix. Without the ability to listen, a being is stuck in insanity. The DLS humanely restored valuable functioning in Josephs brain and effectively opened him to the world to use for his enjoyment and all ultimate purposes. Thank you, Diane, Kathy and all of the staff, for this bottom line - giving Joseph this wonderful, powerful chance to resume his lifetime of learning.

Susan D.

September 2004

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