McGavern, DO, MS, FACP....but more importantly, I am Cole's mother. Let me start out by saying it's been a long road!! At times so difficult, frustrating and isolating, I have not known how I was going to survive another minute....but then there have been days so beautiful, and breakthroughs so amazing, it has taken my breath away. Our son Cole was diagnosed with autism at age 4. A few days of sa
dness and disbelief then led to unending research and "warrior mode" on how I could heal my child. Along the way, I read a book titled "The Horse Boy", written by Rupert Isaacson. It changed our lives forever. We took Cole out of public school, created a homeschooling Movement Method (MM) program in 2017 and a Horseboy Method (HBM) program in 2018. In 2019, my husband and I bought almost 18 acres in Yorktown, to create what I have called a "Horse Boy masterpiece". We transitioned to the land in April 2020 with Majana and Diego. Our third Horse Boy horse, Neron, arrived from Germany in May of 2021 after 18 months of intense training. My son is not "neurotypical" by any means at this point, but we have gone from 10 words in a day to 300 plus words in an hour on the horse. We have gone from driving him to a feeding clinic in Richmond for 2 years, to him being above 90th percentile in weight. We have gone from not being able to go to the beach because he couldn't bear to step on sand, to it is now one of his most beloved places. We have gone from lugging a bike to OT for years trying to get him to be able to ride to he now can ride a bike scooter, and hover board all by himself!! We are grateful to have been able to do such a far-fetched thing and hope to be able to share this with those in the community who are going through similar struggles. Here's to strength, hope, community, peace and faith! CHATS does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color,
national origin, disability, or age in admission, treatment, or participation in its programs, services and activities, or in employment.
