Back to School

I have known for quite some time now that I cannot teach my children at home. I can facilitate their medical needs but cannot take on their education. For this reason I pursued help through the local school district.

This week our four youngest began school for the first time in nearly a year. They are being taught in our home by a gifted teacher provided by the district. We are so grateful and the kids are excited to be learning again. This is the letter our doctor wrote encouraging the homebound instructional program.

"This is to confirm that I am the attending, consulting, and treating physician for children in the Fabry family with regard to a series of problems associated with an unfortunate episode of residentially-related poisoning occurring as a result of their residence in a structure in Colorado that was damaged by water with resultant growth of bioaerosols in an amplified manner including toxigenic structural mold and their associated mycotoxins.

"As a result of a genetic susceptibility, the Fabry children are exquisitely sensitive to toxins associated with biological agents including a variety of bacteria and fungi and are intolerant of many volatile organic compounds, particularly aromatics, commonly found in public school environments. These things include, but are not limited to, cleaning agents containing phenol, pesticides of various sorts, and of course bioaerosols associated with water damaged materials and their associated mold and mycotoxin amplification. This confers to the Fabry children a prohibition on their being able to enter many public schools without experiencing adverse health effects.

"As a result of their inability to maintain their health when they are exposed to these environments and the fact that such exposures would have a direct impact on their cognitive functioning by impairing their cognitive performance, I am requesting that they be homeschooled in a chemically-mitigated environment, which their parents have facilitated.

"Assuming that they are not getting exposed to volatile organic compounds, toxins, and triggers to which they are reactive, they are fully capable of and should be engaged in full-time education, albeit primarily in a home environment.

"I do want to emphasize that any teachers that are attending to their education need to ensure that they do not wear fragrance personal hygiene products or clothing that has been laundered in fragrance laundry soaps or with fragrance fabric softeners. It is also contraindicated for these individuals to be smokers as they will carry the residue of sidestream smoke on their clothing."

A year ago I had only the Internet and my intuition telling me our mold exposure made my kids sick. I had doctors urging me to have my kids seen by a psychologist. You can imagine the relief when I ventured to Arizona to have them seen by a toxic mold specialist.

We continue to learn the hard way the extent of their limitations. I bought two composition books for the first day of school. Brandon had a nosebleed within the first hour.

Experience and a tutor. Two great ways to learn.