Therapy helps kids with autism open up
Gives families tools to communicate
Denise Mangiante of Memphis felt like something was missing early on with her son, Will. He didn’t make much eye contact, he rarely responded to his name and he flapped his hands when excited, along with other obsessive behaviors.
Their pediatrician reassured her that everything seemed f i ne, but when Will t urned 1 , he sti l l didn’t have many words, and Mangiante’s concerns continued to grow.
She made an appointment with a neuropsychologist to evaluate Will, even submitting a video that documented his quirky behaviors. She got a diagnosis she never expected — Will had autism. He was just about to turn 2, and Mangiante felt heartbroken.
“Now that I look back, it’s so clear — but at the time, I really felt li ke I was making t his entire thing up in my head,” she said. Will i mmediately began t herapy at Janna Hacker and Associates, a Germantown-based group of specialists who provide speech-language, occupational and social therapy. Mangiante says the words began coming and they fi- nally enjoyed long-awaited progress. Mangiante and her husband, Gene, also received t ra i ni ng a nd learned how to work with their autistic child.
“Autism presents many different ways in children. Sometimes, it’s helpful for parents to see YouTube videos of different chil- dren with autism to see the differences,” Hacker said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 68 children in the United States has been identified with autism spectrum disorder. April 2 is recognized
as World Autism Awareness Day. If parents suspect their child has autism, Hacker says a speech-language evaluation is a good place to start. Then, referrals can lead to additional testing.
“It made me a better mom to learn how to communicate and bond with my son, and that comes with understanding his needs,” Mangiante said. “It seems so random, but my biggest struggle was figuring out how to play with my own child, because children with autism don’t like the typical things everyone else likes. Through therapy, we’ve made great strides.”
Three days after Will’s diagnosis, the Mangiantes’ lives changed again: they had a baby boy, Michael, who would present new challenges. He seemed different from Will at first — he interacted, showed great eye contact and loved to be held. But at 18 months, Michael lagged behind in language. Soon, he began banging his head when frustrated and he lost his social skills. The family’s pediatrician advised them to show “tough love” and ignore his behavior.
With both sons now on the autism spectrum, Mangiante says it felt like information overload involving numerous evaluations, paperwork and phone calls.
Today, Will, 4, attends Holy Rosa r y Cat ho - lic School i n Memphis. Through t he school’s Angel Program, children with autism are offered intensive instruction in a classroom with typical peers, who serve as role models on how to speak, how to behave and show what is appropriate. When Michael is old enough, he will also attend Holy Rosary, but for now, they’re focusing on ABA therapy and socialization through language play groups at Janna Hacker and Associates and their specialist, Michele Wilson.
Michael’s eye contact has ret urned, a nd his head banging continues to improve. For Will, his autism causes more fear than expected for everyday events.
“If I turn the wrong direction on a street, it hurts him,” Mangiante said. “He doesn’t understand t hat we can go a different way, and he’s scared of what will happen. If music is too loud, he pulls down his ears and his face turns bright red, screaming because he’s scared.”
While the demands of living with two sons with autism are great, Mangiante says she and her husband work closely as a team — and they love seeing the world through their boys’ eyes.
“Children with autism really are smart kids, you just have to find a way to communicate with them so that they can open up and see the world,” she said.