Dr. Trumble, and he sent me to a few
neurologists. Three out of the four
neurologists stood in front of me and told
me that Brielle shows every symptom of
Autism but is very sweet; and that for the
most part, autistic kids are not.
I could not believe what I was hearing. No
parent wants to label their child especially
if that label comes with a disability, but I
needed to accept this if I was going to get
Brielle the help she needed. On my fourth
visit to yet another doctor, I received what
I needed. Dr. Bar, who works closely with
Brielle’s neurosurgeon, diagnosed Brielle
with Autism just after being with her for five
minutes. This diagnoses allowed me to get
Brielle the physical therapy, ABA therapy,
behavioral therapy, and speech therapy that
she desperately needed – and I was able to
get her placed into an amazing school for
children with Autism.
As if having a tethered spinal cord, severe
flat feet, and Autism were not enough,
Brielle began having seizures and heavy
nose bleeds. My heart sank – I could not
believe my daughter, who had already
been fighting like a brave warrior, now has
something else her tiny young body had to
deal with. With this new development, life
came to a hard stop. I had to leave my job
of six years at the dental office to focus on
my sweet warrior’s health 24/7. I started to
look into options to control her seizures.
Her new epilepsy doctor wanted to put her
on medication, but discovered they would
put her in a daze which would not work with
her therapies. It was then that I discovered
seizure alert service dogs. I was amazed to
find what these companions could do for
the person they were trained for; to top it
off, they had Autism service dogs as well!!!
I quickly started looking and finally found
an organization that trained Brielle a service
dog for both her epilepsy and her Autism.
Nina is a white lab that has completely
changed and enhanced all of our lives.
Since Nina has become part of our family,
Brielle tries to talk but is not able to form
the words and get them out, so it causes
her to become frustrated and lose control
of her emotions. Nina is beautiful and gets
attention everywhere we go. When people
touch Nina, it forces Brielle to be social
and not so distant from her surrounding
environment. Nina also alerts us up to five
minutes before Brielle may have a seizure,
which is so amazing just on its own.
Being Brielle’s mom has taught me so much
about life. I will not call what she has a
disability because as hard as the obstacles hit
her every day, she tries her hardest to hurdle
through them. My family and I have learned
the little moments and achievements are
what you celebrate in life – the big picture
you put to the side because you MUST
focus on the NOW with children like my
daughter Brielle. Above all, you must learn
how to love unconditionally and never stop
advocating and learning about new things
that may help your child.
Reading, researching, and advocating is
what I was doing when I came across the
Brain Treatment Center of Newport Beach,
California. There are only four treatment
centers in the world that offer this cutting
edge AMAZING Magnetic Resonance
Therapy (MRT) treatment. Out of these
treatment centers, there are only two
locations in the United States, and your child
must be invited to attend treatment.
After calling non-stop every day for over two
months, I received the invitation for Brielle
to attend!
Visitors to the page see Brielle’s journey and
gain hope that their child will also overcome
whatever