Tomorrow is world autism day

On the eve of world autism day, some startling numbers out of the U.S. The Center for Disease Control is reporting a 30% increase. One in 68 children will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In Canada, the numbers aren’t as exact. But experts agree there is an increase — and they also agree on early intervention.

Like most 6 year olds, technology is a big part of Spencer Langdon’s life. But early on in his life, Spencer’s behaviour was anything but typical. Jessica Langdon is Spencer’s mom: “We could call him repeatedly and unless there was physical contact tapping him on the shoulder he wouldn’t turn and answer to his name. So that was the first signal. And then we noticed he didn’t point to things. And he couldn’t dress himself.”

He didn’t socialize with his older siblings, Parker and Mikayla. And when he started daycare at age 3, he took no notice of other children. It was the following year when a specialist diagnosed Spencer with both autism spectrum and sensory processing disorders. Jessica admits she was initially devastated: “I started putting limitations on him immediately. I started saying well he’s autistic so he’ll never get married or he’ll never go to university or he’ll never go to a birthday party.”

She says an occupational therapist helped her to view Spencer’s condition differently: “She’s the one who said to me he’s not autistic. He has autism. And that completely changed our outlook on it so that it wasn’t what defined him. He is what he is.”

And what he is, is charming — incredibly affectionate — and eager to share his passions. Jessica says Spencer’s story could have been very different. Mainstream, provincially funded programs have a wait list — up to two years long.

“Early intervention changed Spencer’s life. He’s completely verbal. He goes to school. He’s doing all those normal everyday things and that’s because we had intense therapy when he was first diagnosed. But we didn’t get funded for that. We had to do that all by ourselves.”

Recognizing not all families have the means to afford private clinics, Jessica hopes to launch a foundation in another year that will help families in need of private therapy. To raise funds she’s hosting the Burlington autism gala April 4th.

Tickets for the gala Friday night are still available. Meanwhile, it’s been a busy few weeks for the Langdon’s. They’ve been selling blue light bulbs urging people to swap out their exterior house lights with blue ones. Wednesday, on what is officially world autism day, they’re asking people to light it up blue — as a show of support, and to raise awareness for autism.