From Joseph’s mother:

I just want to share why Joey is an important part of our Jewish Community. Joey was our 10th man today and he allowed us to read from the torah. Joey sat nicely in the last row [there are only 4 rows] through out the service. We called Yosef up for the 7th aliya. he walked up to the torah and with a one word prompt said the set of first prayers. He stood at the torah with me , the reader and 2 other men, enjoying and watching. half way through, he put his hand on the wooden roller. after the reading he said the 2nd prayer and ended it loud and with joy. All the men on the Bimah shook his hand and when he sat down , some of the other men came over to Joey. Bertie, he makes you and me proud. Joey is truly a Jewish soul.

When I observed Joey, I observed the following:
 Joey for the most part was in a very pleasant and cooperative mood. He verbalized louder and his speech seemed clearer than in the past. He made better eye contact with me. When he needed to use the restroom, he verbalized this clearly to me. Socially, he enjoyed playing ball and reading with his classmates. Academically, he seemed interested in doing his math, and was less enthusiastic about his reading. I assume that different times and days he probably also enjoys doing the reading program. He is very comfortable around his teacher Michelle and seems to be adjusting to Caroline his new aide. I am extremely impressed with Joey’s resiliency in terms of his ability to adapt back to the Aspen school and he seems quite relaxed and comfortable at school. In addition, I was impressed with Joey’s ability to participate in his “base group,” he stayed focused and seemed interested in the content.

Hope this is helpful, let me know if I can be of anymore help.

My son James developed severe autistic symptomatology one month prior to his sixth birthday. The anguish and pain we felt as our family watched him disappear into the abyss of thoughtlessness is indescribable. All of the Physicians agreed that his regression was an autoimmune phenomenon. They counseled us on accepting James’ circumstance. We accepted what had happened however we never lost hope.

One evening we received a call from Dr. Lowe a physician that treated James. He said that “James needs to go to Panama and have adult stem cell therapy from the Stem Cell Institute.” We were extremely nervous going to a non US medical facility. We mustered up all of the courage we had and took James to Panama.

The initial round of stem cells significantly improved my son’s cognitive skills.

Once in Panama we were put at ease as the facilities were no different than those found in the finest United States hospitals. The initial round of stem cells significantly improved my son’s cognitive skills. Globally, his engagement and language production show marked improvement. Each day we see many subtle improvements like consistently smiling for pictures, allowing his sibling to blow out her birthday candles or understanding that Sunday comes before Monday.

We are going to bring James back to Panama and are extremely optimistic that he will continue on his current trajectory. It is truly remarkable that such a promising therapeutic intervention is not more widely available. We are extremely grateful to the Stem Cell Institute for transforming our hope into reality.

– Richard Wagner