It is 4:30 a.m. Melinda Waller is awakened by her 4-year-old son wanting to watch videos on the computer.
“Momma, dragon turtle, dragon turtle,” he said as he tries to shake her awake. He grabs her hand and pulls. “Come on, dragon turtle.”
She slowly opens her eyes – for what seems like the millionth time in the last few years – and pulls him close and mumbles. “I sure do love you, son.”
Waller said she and her husband always feared something was different about their son. He had trouble speaking, and he acted out when he couldn’t communicate what he needed from his parents.
It wasn’t until last July when Waller took Tristram to the doctor that they finally had an answer: autism.
“I don’t exactly know when the tears started to fall,” Waller said. "The tears were just falling — like someone had turned on a faucet and was just letting it run.
“The only thing I totally remember feeling is the need to have my husband by my side, to catch me when I broke.”
Melinda Waller’s husband …Billy Waller… said that before Tristram was diagnosed, he was worried, because Tristram had little to no way to communicate and would have meltdowns around large groups of people.
He said that it all changed when they finally got Tristram’s diagnosis.
“I felt relief; there was something to finally explain exactly what was going on with my son,” Billy Waller said. “Once we found out he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, we had a course of action we could take to help him function more effectively in society.”
…Melinda Waller tried to explain away the signs of autism before Tristram was diagnosed.
“The biggest struggle was not being able to communicate with him; he could not talk,” she said. “I did not know when he wanted or needed something. We taught him to take our hand and walk us over to what he wanted.”
“We noticed he was ‘funny’ in social situations; he wasn’t interacting with other children in a ‘normal’ way; his reaction to different situations was different than ‘normal,’” she said.
The Wallers’ concern grew when Tristram was about 18 months old and he started to lose all of the words he had already learned; they were tired of getting roundabout diagnoses for their son and it was time to seek out the root of Tristram’s issue.
…Melinda Waller said that early diagnosis is the key to start working with a child to achieve their fullest potential.
“Tristram is a lot better behaved,” she said, crediting his therapists.
“When he first started with us, he had very little language. He could not tell us when he wanted something,” said Pete Libby, lead behavioral clinician, Colorado Autism Center in Colorado Springs. “Through language, his inappropriate behavior was reduced and his (ability to sit and focus on tasks) has gotten 1,000-percent better. He is the poster boy for the applied behavioral analysis that we use to help our kids progress.”
Libby said that behavior analysis focuses on the principles that explain how learning takes place. By applying those techniques and principles, it brings a positive change in behavior by rewarding them for a desired outcome.
Billy Waller said he is amazed with how far Tristram has progressed in such a short time.
“His interactions with people have changed. Before, he wouldn’t do well with large groups, and now he seems to do well with groups and social interaction, without stressing out or having a meltdown,” he said. “Of course, he will get to the point when he is tired and will be ready to ‘go home now.’”
He added the treatment Tristram has received has improved their life as a family, and that he is extremely proud of his son.
“As a family, we are doing great,” he said. “My son’s workweek is generally harder than mine. He is involved in three different programs that occupy his whole day, and he does a great job of dealing with it.”
Billy Waller said that he credits his wife with their son’s success as well.
“My wife manages the household and takes Tristram to all of his different appointments throughout the week,” he said…
Tristram’s typical weekly schedule includes three, four-hour appointments of applied behavioral analysis; two, one-hour sessions of speech and occupational therapy; and four days of afternoon preschool.
Melinda Waller suggests parents dealing with similar ordeals should take their concerns to their doctor. She added that Tristram is no different from any other child.
“He just thinks differently. Don’t lower your expectations just because of a diagnosis,” she said…