What Helped Me

I work really hard every week! I have therapists who help me move, play, and practice my words. I also eat special food — no milk, no wheat, no soy. Sometimes I miss cheese, but coconut milk is really yummy in sinigang!

My school: Maya Forest School

I'm about to graduate from Kinder at Maya Forest School! 🎓 They've been really, really helpful in my growth. My teachers understand me and know how to help me learn in ways that work for my brain.

My therapies

These are the people who help me every week. They make hard things feel like games!

🏃 Physical Therapy (1x a week)

My physical therapist helps me with my body — things like balance, coordination, and getting stronger. We do exercises and obstacle courses. It helps me move better and feel more confident when I run and play.

Why it matters: Many children with ASD have challenges with gross motor skills, muscle tone, and body awareness. Physical therapy builds the physical foundation that supports everything else.

🧩 Occupational Therapy (2x a week)

My OT helps me with the things I need to do every day — like holding a spoon, drawing, and getting used to textures and sounds that feel too big for me. We do lots of sensory play too!

Why it matters: Occupational therapy addresses fine motor skills, sensory processing, self-care skills, and regulation. For children with ASD, it's one of the most important early interventions — especially for sensory sensitivities that can affect behavior and learning.

🗣️ Speech Therapy (2x a week)

My speech therapist helps me find my words! We practice sounds, play communication games, and work on understanding what other people say. It's my hardest therapy, but I'm getting better!

Why it matters: Speech therapy is critical for children with ASD — especially those with speech delay, gestalt language processing, or suspected childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). It targets not just talking, but the full picture of communication: understanding language, using gestures, and social interaction.

Important tests we did

Before we started looking at big science stuff, Daddy made sure to check the basics first. These two tests are really important for any child with speech delay!

👂 Hearing Test

One of the first things Daddy did was get my hearing checked. When a child isn't talking, one of the most important things to rule out is hearing loss. I went to an audiologist who tested if I could hear all the different sounds.

Why it matters: Speech delay and hearing loss can look very similar from the outside. A child who can't hear well may not respond to their name, may seem to ignore instructions, or may not develop speech on schedule — all of which can overlap with ASD. Getting a proper hearing test (called an audiological evaluation) is one of the first steps any pediatrician should recommend. It's quick, non-invasive, and can rule out a very treatable cause of speech delay.

👁️ Eye Doctor

Daddy also took me to an eye doctor to make sure I could see properly. Sometimes kids with ASD avoid eye contact or seem like they're not paying attention — and it's worth checking if vision could be part of the picture.

Why it matters: Vision problems in young children can be hard to spot because they don't know what "normal" seeing looks like. Poor eyesight can affect learning, coordination, and social interaction. A pediatric ophthalmologist can do a comprehensive eye exam even on very young or non-verbal children. It's a simple step that's easy to overlook when the focus is on ASD, but it's worth doing early.

Getting tested for CFD & FRAA

For a child to be properly diagnosed with Cerebral Folate Deficiency (CFD), they need to get a FRAA test — a blood test that checks for Folate Receptor Alpha Autoantibodies. These are antibodies that can block folate from reaching the brain, even when blood folate levels look normal.

For about 12 months, Daddy had been searching for a local organization in the Philippines that could help us get tested. Then my school brought in Dr. Raymond Escalona from CreateHealth, who shared their local story about FRAA and folinic acid — and everything clicked.

The test is done by Gensens Diagnostics in the Philippines, who has a partnership with ReligenDX in the US. The blood draw is done locally and shipped to the US for analysis. Results take about 2-3 months. We've already had my blood drawn and are now awaiting results!

Research by Dr. Richard Frye found that approximately 71% of children with ASD test positive for FRAAs — making it one of the most common and most treatable biomedical findings in autism. Yet most parents have never heard of it.

The GFCFSF diet

We follow a strict gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free diet based on our functional medicine pediatrician's guidance. The rationale: dairy proteins may worsen FRAA, gluten and casein peptides may have opioid-like effects in susceptible children, and soy is structurally similar to casein.