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Autism: It can get better
Published November 30, 2009
As Ryan Alpeter bounced on a large ball and counted to 100, his smile said he was having fun, not getting therapy for Asperger’s syndrome.
Lisa Alpeter, Ryan’s mother, and Anita Barnett, his therapist, were proud of the 9-year-old Lake Jackson boy after he accomplished this feat. But not as proud as Ryan, who said he could count past 100.
“Probably to 105,” Ryan said.
When Ryan first started therapy at Angleton Danbury Medical Center three years ago, he couldn’t move a chair from one place to another, he couldn’t balance and he couldn’t read.
“He’s come a very, very, very long way,” Alpeter said. Ryan has almost caught up with his third-grade level in his home-school math class, his favorite subject.
For children with autism, although the disorder will always stay with them, therapy can help calm some of its symptoms.
‘EVERY LITTLE THING’
After being diagnosed when he was 6 with Asperger’s syndrome, a disorder on the autism spectrum, Ryan began attending occupational therapy. Today, he is a relatively high-functioning child, Alpeter said.
There are five developmental disorders that fall under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorders, according to Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to raising funds to promote the research of autism.
These five developmental disorders are autism, Asperger’s syndrome, Rett syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified and childhood disintegrative disorder. They are characterized by impaired communication skills and social abilities, as well as repetitive behavior.
Ryan struggles with his fine motor skills and balance. His communication, social and learning skills also are delayed.
For the past three years, Ryan has gone once a week to work on his fine motor skills with Barnett.
Occupational therapy works on the child’s motor skills, visual perception, self-help skills and many other skills. Therapy is all about helping Ryan learn to function in different environments, Barnett said.
“You have to teach them every little thing,” Alpeter said. “They don’t just pick it up from watching you.”
Ryan often is reminded to use his words and to make complete sentences instead of using sounds and gestures to tell people what he wants during therapy.
THERAPY SESSION
Ryan began his hour-long, weekly therapy with a ride around the gym on a scooter board. He lay on his stomach, held his feet up and used his hands to move the board, something that was difficult for him when he first started physical therapy.
Ryan’s current goal is to learn to write in cursive, something most of his peers already have accomplished at his age.
“Cursive is important to Ryan,” Barnett said. While practicing, Ryan sat on a one-legged stool to work on his balance.
Ryan practiced his fine motor skills by picking up small dice with tweezers and putting them in a bottle, zipping up a bag, using an air-filled plastic fish to push fabric balls across the table and rolling modeling clay.
Ryan also worked on how to use his fork and knife. Cutting is a difficult task for Ryan because he must do different things with his right and left hand, Barnett said.
While the Alpeters are more than willing to make the necessary sacrifices to get Ryan the help he needs, Lisa Alpeter admits it does come with a cost.
Even though the family has great insurance, they pay about $600 a month to take Ryan to his occupational and speech therapy sessions, Alpeter said.
“It means there are things we don’t do, like go to the movies,” Alpeter said. She patches clothes instead of buying new ones, and the family limits restaurants trips, she said.
But to them, the sacrifice is worth it. Ryan’s progress has allowed the Alpeters’ hopes and dreams for him to soar. She hopes to have Ryan graduating from high school at age 18, like everyone else, she said.
“We’ve been told it’s possible,” Alpeter said.
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SECOND in a three-day series on autism, diagnosis and treatment
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DIAGNOSIS
SUNDAY: Five developmental disorders fall under the umbrella of autism: autism, Asperger’s syndrome, Rett syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified and childhood disintegrative disorder.
TREATMENT
TODAY: Occupational therapy works on the child’s motor skills, visual perception, self-help skills and many other skills. Therapy is all about helping children learn to function in different environments.
FAMILIES
TUESDAY: Perhaps most frustrating
to parents of children with autism is the lack of knowledge: Not knowing how to care for a child who cannot communicate his or her needs and not knowing why the child has autism.
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