In 2002, Manisha and Mahesh Lad’s only son, Akhil, was diagnosed with Autism at only 18 months. While this news was hard to digest at first, the parents did not waste any time in despair and instead completely devoted themselves to providing Akhil with the most suitable treatments available in the United States.
Similar to many other parents whose child was diagnosed with Autism, Manisha and Mahesh began their journey with behavior interventions and alternative treatments after hearing several success stories. Soon after, Akhil had undergone various alternative functional medicine treatments and all of his underlying medical conditions were treated, which ultimately improved his behavior.
However, once a few years passed and Akhil was 10 years old, he was still socially disconnected with others. Additionally, he was severely struggling in academics despite attending one of the best schools in New Jersey. The missing puzzle seemed to be that Akhil had no method of communication and no way to express his thoughts. Dr. Frank Duffy from Harvard tested Akhil and realized, “…he can process and decode the information at a rapid speed but returning it is a problem”.
A year later, Akhil was 11 and tried supported typing, also known as Facilitation Communication (FC). This new form of conveyance yielded a new Akhil, who finally began to reveal his thoughts via iPad. Using this method, he said “My brain does not give instructions to my body. I cannot see my body in my mind”, and it became apparent that Akhil was experiencing a newly emerging view of autism known as “Mind and Body Disconnect”. This view has been demonstrated by few autistic individuals and will take time before educational experts accept this idea. The nonverbal population of autistic individuals is growing and they are slowly beginning to explain their inner world. Regarding Akhil, the disconnect from his mind to his body became a major concern.
Accordingly, Manisha and Mahesh researched a novel treatment named Masgutova Neurosensorimotor reflex integration method (MNRI) created by Dr. Svetlana Masgutova. Akhil attended an MNRI camp for several weeks and he eventually learned how to type independently. While this new method worked for Akhil, it was time for him to adjust to a more independent well-known method, Rapid Prompting Method (RPI).
RPI allowed Akhil to independently keep up with his age-appropriate education and he is now able to learn all grade-level academics in his school. He has developed tremendously and has a decision in every part of his life. Akhil now attends Rowan University and learns Algebra, Astrophysics, Chemistry, etc.
