By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
A roundtable discussion on autism and other autism spectrum disorders will be held Thursday night at the Partners in Learning Child Development and Family Resource Center.
Norma Honeycutt, executive director of Partners in Learning, says parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis will have a chance to hear from three people with an autism spectrum disorder and a father of two children with the diagnoses and ask questions.
“My vision is that it will give the many families with this diagnosis hope to see these people happy and doing well,” she says.
When parents first hear their child has some form of autism spectrum disorder, “it is devastating,” she says. “They immediately think the worst.”
Honeycutt says the number of children with autism spectrum disorders continues to rise. “Statistics say another child is diagnosed every 20 minutes,” she says. “These families really need support.”
The three people with diagnoses scheduled to participate in the roundtable discussion ó scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Family Resource Room ó are Katie Shepherd of China Grove, Eliza Blanton of Salisbury and Stephen Davis of Burlington, who grew up in Salisbury.
Jon Hunter will be the parent representative. He has a child in elementary school and a child in middle school with autism spectrum disorder diagnoses.
Katie Shepherd has Asperger’s syndrome, one of the three most common autism spectrum disorders. Shepherd says she had difficulty all through school.
As a teenager, she says her fellow students thought she was always in trouble because her name was called on the intercom so many times to go to the principal’s office. There, she underwent various tests to determine her level of skills.
“The psychologist was like, ‘This girl is not going to graduate, she’s not going to hit the 12th grade, blah, blah, blah,’ ” Shepherd recalls.
But with prayer and a grandmother who home-schooled her, she earned her high school diploma.
It was only after Shepherd married and had a child with autism spectrum disorder that she decided she wanted to be tested herself. Jane Jackman, executive director of The Arc/Rowan arranged for her to be tested at the Gastonia TEACCH Center, which serves people with autism spectrum disorders, and tests showed that Shepherd had Asperger’s.
“She was so appreciative of a diagnosis,” Jackman says. “It really helped her understand all of her struggles in school and so forth.”
Now divorced, 35-year-old Shepherd is able to drive, lives independently and works part-time at Subway in Wal-Mart washing dishes and doing prep work.
She suffers from anxiety, which is not unusual for people with Asperger’s, but is able to keep it under control through relaxed breathing and prayer. “I don’t have any medical insurance,” Shepherd says. “I’m on Jesus meds.”
Her son, Michael, lives in a residential program for children with a variety of developmental disabilities.
Mary Blanton says her daughter, Eliza, also has Asperger’s. “It varies from individual to individual as to how it impacts them,” she says. “A lot of people who function normally but may seem somewhat eccentric may very well be on an autism spectrum.
“Some have very interesting interests and very deep interests.”
Eliza is part of an As You Like It Social Group for people with Asperger’s which meets monthly from September through May, her mother says, and has members “from as far away as Waxhaw and Albemarle and everywhere in between.”
One man in the group, for example, reads philosophy and C.S. Lewis’ works backwards and forwards, Blanton says, but has trouble communicating about what he has read.
“Others are very computer savvy or have the ability to remember large quantities,” she says. “One guy in the group has a phenomenal memory for geological stuff. They’re very interesting people, so you get a different perspective on the world.”
For families with adult members with autism spectrum disorders, Blanton says it’s important to learn to deal with their specific habits, knowing what works and what doesn’t and knowing what to expect as far as growth, social judgment and job potential.
“That is a problem for a lot of people who have Asperger’s,” she says. “They’re very bright, but they have a lot of difficulty with social skills. It’s difficult for them to get into and stay on a regular job.”
Eliza Blanton works at Rowan Vocational Opportunities. “She does very well in that setting,” her mother says. “She has a very stable group of friends and feels very comfortable there. Routine is real important.”
Honeycutt says Partners in Learning is receiving more and more referrals for children with autism spectrum disorders. Right now, there are five children in the program, and Partners in Learning staff do play therapy on regular home visits for 10 children with diagnoses in the community.
Partners in Learning funds are used to work with children ages birth through 3, and Smart Start Rowan provided a grant for the staff to work with preschool-age children.
The child development and family resource center is located on Robin Road behind the Catawba College baseball field. For more information on Partners in Learning, call 704-638-9020 or log onto its Web site at epartnersinlearning.org.
For more information on the As You Like It Social Group for adults with Asperger’s syndrome, call Mary Blanton at 704-637-7715.
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249.