Get up. Get dressed. Have breakfast. Go to school. Come home. Eat dinner. Do homework. Take bath. Go to bed. Sounds like a typical day for school age kids, right? Well, for some, especially those with some type of autism, it means much more than that. It’s a way of life and survival in a world that’s all their own.
…April is National Autism Awareness Month and two Stuttgart mothers are working to bring awareness to their hometown. Magen Millerd, mother of six-year-old Parker, and Stephanie Gwin, mom of five-year-old Noah, are forming the Stuttgart Area Autism Support group and hope to be a non-profit organization soon, holding fundraisers and raising money that will stay in the area.
Both women said that autism comes in many levels and degrees. It covers a wide spectrum, from minor symptoms to severe.
…For Noah, it was little quirks that first got Gwin’s attention when he was 13-months old.
“He didn’t like anyone mesing with his hands and was obsessed with spinning objects,” she said. “He wasn’t trying to talk much and at 15 months, he quit speaking.”
"After early evaluations through the Department of Human Services he was diagnosed at 20 months of age and began therapy at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Noah has low-end autism… It affects his social skills, and he has to have everything on a set schedule, the same routine every day. He is now a student at Easter Seals Arkansas Grand Prairie Child Development Center and has started to speak more, is writing letters and knows his ABC’s and how to count.
“He is a different child after a year and a half at Easter Seals,” she said.
…For Parker, it took a little longer to get a diagnosis. Millerd said she began noticing something different when he was 2. He would take gifts, like toy cars, and line them up according to size and color.
“He always had to have his hands on something,” she said. “You couldn’t tell him no, he made up names for everything and would only eat certain foods.”
Parker’s social skills are the opposite of Noah’s. He is very social. He likes everyone and thinks he knows everyone.
“He is not negative and has lots of personality,” Millerd said. “Sometimes to the extent of being too friendly.”
…He was at Grand Prairie Child Development Center from the age of 9 months, but at age four, there was still no autism diagnosis. He became labeled at first as a ‘problem child,’ until Millerd kept pushing for answers from doctors. When he entered Kindergarten, he would go into a shell when told to do things. Finally, in October at the age of 5, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s, a form of autism.
…The most important thing that helps children like Noah and Parker is schedules. They both start the day with a routine. One change can lead to a meltdown. For Noah, picture schedules tell him when he is going to play, eat, etc., and this keeps him calm. He is picked up at the same time every day and has a schedule at home…
For Parker, his day begins with breakfast and his dad taking him to school. He, too, works by a listed schedule.
“It’s better to take the safe road,” Millerd said. “No matter what, you have to control his environment the best you can.”
Gwin said she has to explain to Noah exactly where they are going and what they will be doing if it’s something out of his comfort zone.
“I get eye-level with him and make him listen to me,” she said…
Millerd said positive reinforcement works so much better than negative. “That’s the Golden Rule for autistic children.”
…Life can be very hard in a school setting for autistic children…
“My advice to teachers who have autistic students, is to listen to the parents of those kids,” Millerd said “…they just have to have their schedule and some things make them anxious.”
Gwin said it is also important for other parents and teachers to teach children that not everyone is the same and that it’s okay to be different.
…Early intervention is the key, according to these two moms.
“As a mom, you will know when something isn’t right or different,” Gwin said. Follow up with your concerns.
Their advice is to find a support group of other parents and educate yourself and your family. Sometimes it’s hard to get family members to accept that something is wrong or they see it differently. Family members can disagree on how to handle it or make excuses, which makes life harder on the child.
Millerd and Gwin hope that with the Stuttgart support group, they can raise money for local schools to have more resources like supplies and teacher training, as well as speakers at schools and in the community.
To help raise awareness, the Stuttgart Junior Woman’s Club sold blue ribbons to hang in doorways and buildings. Thursday, the group presented to Gwin a check for $1,100…
