JJ'S JOURNEY

Allysia Kuras is organizing this fundraiser.

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We are Jeff and Allysia Kuras, in June 2012 we had a beautiful baby boy named Jeffrey Jr. whom we call "JJ". JJ is our first child but since he was 9 months old, JJ started with some odd behavior and something did not seem right. JJ would no longer respond to his name or anyone/anything else around him, he passed all his hearing tests with flying colors. From 9 months to 12 months JJ developed a lot of many odd behaviors such as: repetitive body movements, pica, social isolation, repetitive noises and actions, silent acid reflux, etc. Myself, and his pediatrician became more concerned at his 12 month checkup and he needed to be evaluated by specialists. At the age of 18 months old JJ was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We were lost and broken hearted but we knew we had to pick ourselves up and get our son better. Immediately we started medical tests and therapy which includes behavioral therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, MRI tests, blood tests, urine tests, stool sample tests, biomedical treatment, diet changes, EEG tests, and many many hours of love and patience. Therapy at a minimum consists of $2000 per month without any of the tests included or doctors that take no insurance at all. I became JJ's biggest advocate and knew I had to help him in order for him to get better. With the help of other autism moms and a few organizations I received a lot of encouragement, support and hope. I even designed an autism truck with Westway Towing and bring it to all of the autism events. The problem is JJ needs to continue therapy and needs more therapy which we are not able to afford to provide all of the therapy he needs and to continue all of his current therapy due to financial difficulties. We have already spent all of our savings plus more in credit cards to provide the best treatment for him. We do not qualify for Medicaid/SSI and insurance barely helps. JJ's dad works 2 jobs to support us and it is still not enough. I have to stay home with JJ because he cannot go to school yet let alone go into a public place because of sensory processing disorder. JJ is now 2 1/2 years old and has greatly improved due to us being able to provide these services for him. We do not want to have to continue to take anything away because we are not able to afford to do so. He has hit huge milestones due to the therapy and biomedical help he has received. He still does not fully speak, his only word he understands is "dada" and sometimes repeats words we say but has no idea what they mean. Also JJ is a very very tall 2 1/2 year old and has outgrown his crib for over 6 months now. He is not able to sleep in a regular bed where he has access to getting out due to having pica, sensory processing disorder, and autism that still needs a lot of work. Trust me we have tried. The specialty bed alone is in the thousands. JJ will be crawling out of the crib soon and also has a lot of insomnia because he no longer fits comfortably in his crib. It breaks our hearts to see our son not be able to sleep because he cannot get comfortable. I have attached some photos for you to see of JJ. Our biggest hope for JJ is to be able to continue to provide him with the therapy he needs to help him live and function to the best of his ability. Anything will help and we sincerely thank you from the bottom of our hearts to yours. We love our son very much and he means the world to us. Thank you in advance for any contribution it will forever remain grateful in our hearts. Please share this with your family and friends to help us reach our goal.
Love,

Jeff, Allysia and JJ