The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Activities motivate boy with autism
Family photographs of 12-year-old Kenny Myers show a sweet smile in a myriad of settings.
In one photo, Kenny rides a carousel horse beside his 11-year-old sister, Jaclyn.
In another, he’s embracing his father, Tim Myers, at Special Olympics in 2016 at Ely Stadium in Elyria.
Then, Kenny stands in front of a brightly colored sign describing animal tracks at Carlisle Reservation of Lorain County Metro Parks.
But his biggest grin is in a nature center selfie with his mother, Karen Myers, and a
canopy of trees behind them.
Myers bases every day on contingencies: planning activities with an understanding of triggers that cause meltdowns in her nonverbal son, and carrying along options for varying the plans with an optimistic hope for the best.
“You have to have a lot of preparation,” Myers said. “You go through the ups and downs. Sometimes it’s like a roller coaster with a lot of twists and turns, but it’s an adventure. The attitudes you bring toward it is what you will get out of it.”
April is National Autism Awareness Month
According to the Autism Speaks website at www.autismspeaks.org, early signs of an autism spectrum disorder could include: no big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter; no babbling by 12 months; no words by 16 months; and no back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles or other facial expressions by nine months.
The severity of autism spectrum disorders vary widely, a doctor’s diagnosis is required and the public is more aware of behaviors associated with them, according to the website.
Also, Autism Speaks offers resources to help families cope and community members care with understanding. Sometimes just knowing other parents are out there makes a difference.
According to a blog by Allie Smith on the Autism Speaks website, the unexpected happens often while raising a child on the autism spectrum.
The Myers family leverages Kenny’s love for calendars and memory of patterns with daily routines, Karen Myers said.
“He does really good with visuals,” said Kristen Metz, an autism specialist at Elyria City Schools.
Metz works with a team of autism educators that won awards for incorporating state standards in instruction for students with autism by communicating the information in a way those youngsters can understand and remember.
“Now, there’s a new diagnostic tool for autism spectrum disorder,” Metz said. “Kenny is at level three, which is the most severe. He receives instruction in small group settings so they can structure his experience throughout the day.
“He’s still very capable of learning all the math and social studies and science. It just looks a little different to meet his needs.”
A student’s success
Kenny attends sixthgrade at Northwood Middle School on Gulf Road in Elyria.
In fall 2015, Kenny and his classmates road a coach bus to Camp Fitch in Pennsylvania. Their typical fifth-grade peers were there, too.
“My daughter is in a typical fifth-grade class this year; it was her turn to go to Camp Fitch,” Myers said. “He still goes online to look up things about Camp Fitch. Whatever time of the year it is, he remembers what he did at that time a year ago.”
She finds a special activity on the calendar — roller skating, bowling, a Monsters game, a movie — almost necessary to motivate Kenny toward good behavior.
“I put that at the bottom of the calendar,” Myers said. “’You have to work hard at school this day, this day and this day.’ Or, ‘You have to be good at school this day, this day.’
“I don’t treat him any different from our daughter. We go to the zoo, public swimming pool, the movies.”
Last year, the family stayed overnight in Columbus, Pittsburgh and Niagara Falls on the New York side, Myers said.
“To prepare him for that trip, I had an agenda list so we knew what was coming next,” she said. “I planned it so things would be interesting and active for the children.”
The contingencies for family trips include taking into consideration if Kenny is stimulated too much, triggering an emotional meltdown, Myers said.
If the family goes to a movie theater, sometimes the parents drive separately in case Kenny needs to leave early, she said.
Kenny can read, so Myers communicates with him through an iPad.
“He comes home from school and he’s on YouTube,” Myers said. “I’m like, ‘Why is he on this subject?’ And it might be something he’s learning at school. He’s very observant. He knows what is going on.”
Kenny has likes and interests
“Some days, I see him watch Sesame Street level programs and normal 12-year-old level on the same day,” Myers said, adding she’s seeing signs of adolescent behavior, such as sitting away from his mom. “One day he was watching ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ (Disney movie). I was like, ‘Why is he watching this?’ He liked the music. He was trying to sing along with one of the songs.”
Kenny listens and watches first, and then tries something, Myers said.
“He loves the pool,” she said. “One of us is in the pool and one of us is outside the pool. It’s a tag team.”
Since Kenny stands 5-feet-2-inches-tall and weighs 147 pounds, handling a meltdown is “a struggle, but do-able,” Myers said.
“When I go anywhere, I always have an extra adult,” she said. “It’s a tag team. There are certain triggers.
“We know what will happen first. If we catch a trigger and what might be causing it, then (the meltdown is) small. When you start to see the foot tap, that’s the trigger.”
Metz has worked with Kenny for about 10 years.
“If he’s under the weather, we know we are going to have to change schedules,” she said.
Kenny loves rain, Myers said. He loves to stand outside in the rain and look up.
But that can be dangerous, she said. So, she created a sign for their sliding glass door saying if there’s thunder, that means stay inside.
Myers works as a learning disabilities tutor at St. Mary’s school in Elyria. She said she appreciates enrichment activities through Kenny’s school for the way they expand his options.
“They had him going on ice skates in preschool,” Myers said. “They went bowling, walking in elementary school as a fitness push.
“He’s been exposed to that in the schooling and that is what he wants to do when he gets home. There’s no child on the spectrum that’s the same.
“I’m also an educator and I’ve worked with children on the spectrum. It’s benefitted me having a child on the spectrum. You have to have a pack of things to try.”
What works one day, may not work the next, Metz said.
“But peppermint candies rule,” Myers said. “I keep a stack of peppermint candies, and that works for Kenny.