The Promise of Lilacs

In The Promise of Lilacs, Leah Rivera shares her personal story chronicling the challenges her family faced when her second son was diagnosed with autism. Forging her way through an onslaught of challenges, Leah struggled to overcome her husband's skepticism, mixed signals from professionals, frantic 911 calls, and a harrowing lack of resources while trying to balance her new 'normal' family life in getting her son the crucial help he needed and raise him to become a functionally independent fine gentleman he is today.
The book begins on Mother's Day 1997, when her Lilacs put on a grand show. As Leah cherished the blooms, she sensed some emptiness when she realized her son, Gordon, had no longing for her or for any human contact. He only longed for his toy car, he would push back and forth within six inches all throughout the day. Non-verbal, babbles were the only sounds he could make at three years old. He was happy and contented in his 'own' world.
Doctor visits ended in disappointment as she was always reminded that her older son didn't utter any word until two-and-a-half years old. Her husband didn't share her concerns. He thought their son would grow out of it someday.
At the insistence of the babysitter and her sister, their family doctor finally referred them to a psychiatrist.
During their visit, it didn't take long for the psychiatrist to deliver the diagnosis, severe autism, as if his condition was as common as having colds. Quickly, he referred them to a speech therapist and a behavior therapist. He also recommended that Gordon be placed in a group daycare where he would get the stimulation from other children.
After ten months of therapies and attendance in the daycare, Gordon, now four years old, was still not verbal. The behavior therapist predicted that Gordon would either be a mute or speak in a robotic manner. A year after their initial visit with the psychiatrist, they brought Gordon back hoping he could see some progress or prescribe another approach. They felt pushed to the murkiest troughs when he shrugged and said, "This isn't rocket science. Your son is autistic."
Some professionals worked just for the money but there may be some passionately interested in seeing progress in the patients' diagnosis, Leah mused. It was time to take matters into her own hands.
Thankful for the internet, Leah sifted through all the information she believed made sense. Her openness about her son's diagnosis paved the way to her discovery of the behavior modification treatment, ABA. Not having an education nor a psychology background did not discourage her from drafting a curriculum tailored for her son and running their own ABA home program without guidance from the professionals. Deep inside her, she longed for that day when her son would call her 'Mom'.
To this day, her family believes ABA is instrumental to have pulled Gordon out of his 'own' world initially. Still quirky in some ways, Gordon is a confident young man today. He appears to be quite a conversationalist if the discussion is in his interests.
Although her story centers on autism, Leah believes her story is a story for anyone going through some trials and challenges.
In sharing her personal story, she hopes the reader will have the courage to have faith in himself and is empowered to recognize his strengths and personal tools to overcome his challenges.
She encourages her readers to believe in 'The Promise of Lilacs'.