Left: Kunal as a high achieving Down Syndrome Teen, Right: Kunal after regression started and eating habits changed
Kunal is my 34 year old son with down syndrome who came late to the game but boy am I glad we were introduced to this wonderful group of people. As the adage goes better late than never. Kunal was my gregarious, humorous, creative and very athletic kid. He won gold medals for swimming and basketball in special olympics. He earned his black belt in karate. He attended an acting school to pursue a career in acting. He skied, roller bladed and did 20 miles every year for the best buddies challenge for almost a decade. He lived independently and had a job and was quite a capable individual.
You must be wondering why I am using the past tense here. Yes you read that right he used to enjoy all the above activities and dancing and acting were two things he was particularly passionate about. Suddenly all of that changed. It was like a light switch, right around age 25 things started to go downhill. He became very depressed and withdrawn. More importantly he was very anxious, agitated and aggressive. I could not recognize my son anymore. He added a lot of weight and was not motivated to do anything. He did not care about his appearance. He developed an eating disorder and was consciously avoiding people and isolating himself. Kunal was lost to the world.
Needless to say it was painful to watch my son lose interest in life. The child who had an incredible amount of energy, who used to be the light of the party and had an unmatchable zest and enthusiasm for life was slowly fading into a world of darkness and isolation.
I would like to think that it was divine intervention that changed the course of his life. When I was first introduced to this group I had my reservations about starting him on the protocol because I too like many others was very confused and overwhelmed by it. Thankfully I found special people like Julia Sheppard and Gabi Giacomin who patiently guided me through the process. My son is eight weeks into it and I have seen a dramatic change in his behavior and his personality. He has lost eight pounds.
Dixie Lawrence I will be forever grateful to you, Gabi Giacomin and Julia Sheppard for helping me through this maze by publishing articles and posting relevant information. Kunal is slowly coming back to his source, his true self. He has demonstrated an interest in reading, doing puzzles, painting and of course singing, dancing and acting. I hope to continue on this journey with Gabi and I am looking forward to many more productive years with my son.
Sandhya Sharma
