[Henry's Mom]

My son Henry is 4 years old, autistic and was just diagnosed with AA last week. Henry is regarded as very high functioning with his main challenge being delayed speech. Henry has allergies to dairy and wheat and has been on a gluten free/casein free diet since March 08. We discovered his AA following a visit to a Dr who specializes in treating children with autism. We were looking for answers to Henry's painful intestinal problems, bloating, gas, etc.

About a month ago I started to notice Henry's activity level dropping off and within the past week his color beginning to fade. While in Portland the Dr ran many blood tests on Henry. The first test reported that his RBC was 4.5. We returned home to Boise on Friday and Henry was checked into the hospital, his blood was tested again and his RBC had dropped to a 3.8.

He received his first 2 blood transfusions. The following day he received a bone marrow biopsy. Following the 2 transfusions his RBC went up to a 7.3, we returned home. The next day I received a call from his Oncologist. After reviewing the bone marrow in more detail she has determined that Henry has moderate AA. Henry has 2 sisters and we have all been HLA tested to see if we are potential bone marrow matches.

It has now been a week and a half since his diagnosis and he has already received 3 transfusions. I know we have a long road of discovery ahead of us. I have dealt with autism now for 2 years and in our search for answers and hope for Henry have traveled down many dead end streets. I am wondering if anyone has any advice they could share with me that they wish they would have known. I would like to start out on the right track.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Also, Henry's speech and communication really picked up following his blood transfusions - any thoughts on this? Anyone else also dealing with autism?