Military offers services, assistance for families with autistic children

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Brigitte Brantley
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  When a Moody couple noticed their 2-year-old son, Jory, wasn't meeting important milestones in his growth such as speech development, they became concerned.

It was a trip to the hospital that left Amila Smith and her husband, Tech. Sgt. Rodney Smith, 23rd Force Support Squadron career development NCO in-charge concerned about their son and his future- he had been diagnosed with pervasive development disorder, a form of autism.

It took the couple a permanent change of station move and months of medical referrals to various agencies before finally finding a source that could provide them with assistance and guidance in dealing with their child's disorder.

"The process of getting a child diagnosed with anything on the autism spectrum can be a shocking experience for many parents," said Mrs. Smith. "Although Jory is now three years old and highly functioning, things may have turned out worse if we hadn't researched sources that ended up providing us with vital assistance."

The vital assistance they received came in the form of the applied behavior analysis, which according to the Center for Disease Control is the only therapy proven to work with autistic children. ABA is a learning process tailored to fit the more visually-oriented needs of these children.

When the Smith's discovered that the therapy was the best help for their son, they also learned the service can be paid for if they are enrolled in Tricare's Extended Care Health Option.

"My main concern is that the vast majority of affected families I have spoken to are not aware of the benefits they can receive through the ECHO program," said Mrs. Smith. "Because many families are not affected by autism, these services are not widely known by most people. However, once we were referred to the ECHO program, we also worked closely with Family Advocacy's Exceptional Family Member Program and received important care.

In order to receive essential care, Mrs. Smith says to keep an eye out for possible symptoms.

"One of the most important aspects in treating autistic children is early intensive intervention," she said. "We noticed Jory lost the verbal skills he already had as well as his ability to respond. The more families we can spread awareness of this program to, the more children we can assist in trying to help lead the most normal life possible."

The ECHO program provides up to $36,000 a year in funds for a certified ABA therapist to work with each child as well as a few hours a week of respite care, allowing parents the opportunity to spend time with their other children.

"During each session, our therapist uses age-appropriate techniques to teach Jory behaviors that are socially acceptable," Mrs. Smith said. "A major stride he has made is being able to interact with other children on the playground.

"Before therapy started, he might have just stayed in one corner and not played with anyone else," she added. "Now, he's learning to eliminate that behavior and is able to approach others, which is a notable step in his development."

Communication with an autistic child may also be challenging, but the therapist helps in this aspect by appealing to what a child is likely to respond to.

"Jory would often throw fits because of the slightest thing because he had no way of telling us what he wanted or needed," said Mrs. Smith. "Now, we use cards with pictures on them; if he wants a banana, he tells us by pointing at that card."

"Before therapy, we thought Jory was completely unaware of the world and everything in it," she added. "But when the therapist pulled out those cards, my husband and I were amazed at how much he knew."

Mrs. Smith said that although Jory was not able to express himself through words, he is actually ahead of his peer group academically.

"There aren't many 3-year-olds who can read, but Jory can," she said. "Many autistic children are academically brilliant but don't have the means of communicating it."

For families who may feel they need assistance on how to proceed in having their child treated, Mrs. Smith is willing to personally walk them through the process and can be reached at (229) 232-7093.

She is also working with another Moody member to set up monthly autism workshops that will provide parents with important information.

"It is part of my job to let others know nothing should stop the process of them getting help for their special needs spouse or child, who may be affected by everything on the autism spectrum from asthma to pervasive development disorder," said Ann Lukens, 23rd Force Support Squadron school liaison officer. "These workshops will cover a wide variety of topics from autism in the classroom to the benefits of the ECHO program and will assist parents in learning the best way to cope with this."

The free workshops are scheduled to be held the first Thursday of every month. The first one is scheduled for April 1 and for more information, call (229) 257-3333.

Without the assistance of the ECHO program, Jory's mother knows his future may have gone down a different path.

"We got lucky and diagnosed him at an early age, but others may not have been so fortunate," she said. "I hope to spread awareness about the services for autistic children and let their families know there is both help and funding available.

"Without ABA, Jory would have remained an introverted boy and would have less of a chance at accomplishing great things," she added. "Now, along with interacting with his brother and others in his pre-kindergarten class, my husband and I can really see our child's personality and get to witness things we never thought we'd be able to, such as simply hearing him say, 'I love you.'"