Music helped bring a lost boy back

While he was continuing to be assessed by the HSE Assumpta was told about a woman who was doing great things for children with problems like Michael. Assumpta had never heard of Karen O'Connor or had any idea what sound therapy was. She was willing to try anything that might help her little boy and made an appointment with her. But when Assumpta met Karen it was the first time in a very dark year that she could try and lift her spirits. 'Looking back it was the most amazing lifeline we could ever have been given.' After Karen's initial assessment of Michael and listening to Assumpta's story she told the distraught mother that there was a lot she could do for him. 'I was amazed by her positivity. You can't buy the effect that that first visit had on me,' remarked Assumpta, who had found positivity extremely lacking from the public health services. She wasn't criticising them either and realises that they have their own process and methods of doing things but she summed up Karen's intervention brilliantly. 'It was like giving us the key to the car,' explained Assumpta. The dramatic and positive changes in Michael as a result of sound therapy formed a base for further speech therapy and other treatments. On January 2, 2008 Michael started the LIFT - an intensive 30-day programme of sound therapy. It wasn't a day Assumpta was prepared for and she had no idea what to expect, all she knew was that she had faith in Karen and the anxious mother would try anything to help her child. The LIFT involves two 15-day periods where the children listen to music for two hours a day with a ten-day break in between. It isn't always easy at the beginning to get the child to wear the headphones but a little persistence goes a long way and eventually they are happy to leave them on. While Michael was being treated by Karen, he was diagnosed with autism by the HSE's Early Childhood Intervention Services. 'It was very difficult to come to terms with. You couldn't help feeling that it was going to be a chain around your neck for the rest of your life. But of course it was nothing like that but yet you have to grieve for the child you thought you might have had and there really isn't a timeline for that. 'You do get through it. You need a lot of people around you both family and professionals,' points out Assumpta. Assumpta continued to bring Michael to the HSE appointments and the subtle changes in Michael became stronger all the time. 'Before we had a spinning top, now we had a child that you could work with,' explains Assumpta. Assumpta attributes Michael's transformation to a combination of things but says it would never have been possible without Karen's unusual therapy. Michael stopped being afraid of hairdryers and the hoover, he wasn't afraid of everything any more and he started to interact socially for the first time in over a year. In September 2008 Michael was fortunate to get a place in Stepping Stones in Tuam, a child development centre that only caters for children with a learning disability. 'It was the answer to our prayers. It's an a la carte service once you're in, the difficulty is actually securing a place,' Assumpta explained. Each child has an individually developed programme that aims to promote their abilities and help develop new skills. Assumpta has un-ending praise for the centre and its team leader Helen Mulroy. 'It was an absolute life-saver and Michael loved it there,' adds Assumpta, who continued the appointments with Karen in conjunction with sound therapy at home. 'We had to start everything from the beginning with Michael. Now (aged 7 1/2) he's such a happy boy. He loves to swim and go horse-riding. He'll go on sleep-overs to relatives and isn't afraid. He's a great little man.' Stepping Stones offers services for children up to six years old. Assumpta had to decide where Michael would go from there. She was keen for him to stay in Tuam and in conjunction with the principals of St Patrick's NS, Steve Lane and the Mercy Primary School, Mary Trayers, the Special Education Needs Organiser and other parents they successful formed the Sunflower class in September 2010 for children with autism. 'We haven't looked back. He loves it and everyone is revelling in how he has matured,' says a proud Assumpta. She had found the lack of affection from him extremely difficult to cope with but now Michael has a smile for her. He's a tech whizz too and adores his iPad and even teaches his mother how to work her iPhone. The Mullin family life changed dramatically five years ago and when it did they never thought it would be possible for it to change so dramatically again, but it has. 'Time is of the essence. When something like this happens with a child you have to react quickly. Luckily we discovered Karen just in time.'