Lights, Camera, Action!

When UCLA asked me if Michael and I would be willing to be filmed for a local news segment about the ECPHP program and the Neurology Study he's participating in, I automatically said yes.  It is, after all Autism Awareness Month and I'm happy to do anything I can to help raise awareness of autism and the research that is needed to help our kids.  Besides, Michael LOVES when he gets to wear his "net hat" and see Amanda in the neuro lab.

On filming day, I was a NERVOUS WRECK.  I can talk about autism all day long, but when someone was going to ask me questions about my personal experience with Michael's autism on-camera, I knew I'd inevitably tear up.  Which I did.  And they totally used a clip of my tearful footage in the promo for the piece that played before the commercial break.  Up next: sobbing mom and a kid with a weird contraption on his head. Stay tuned.  Hey, whatever makes people tune in I guess.

Michael was amazing throughout the entire two and a half hours of filming.  At first, when it was time for him to have the net put on, he resisted, and I momentarily panicked.  But I pulled out my trusty mommy purse filled with distractions and treats and he had it on a few minutes later.  He had to sit in front of the testing screen hooked up to the electrodes for quite a while.  He got antsy and kept saying "Mommy, when I say THREE we'll be done."  "I'm gonna say three soon."  "I'm about to say threeeeee."  Luckily, he never actually said "three" and he finished the filming with flying colors.  He didn't understand why the camera was there, but he thought it was a pretty cool contraption.  And later when he saw the segment on our TV he exclaimed, "Hey - that's MEEE!!!"

I'm so proud of my little man.  For being so good on filming day.  But mostly for all the hard work he's put in and the amazing progress he's made in the last four months.  He's MY HERO.



The segment aired on CBS Los Angeles on the 11:00 news on Wednesday night 4/20/11 and again on KCAL 9 the following day at noon.  You can see the video and comments on the CBS website here.