The Woodward News

Local News

October 20, 2009

Students to offer insight on autism

For parents, the symptoms of autism can be very confusing to sort out.  If you do in fact discover that your child has the disease, finding information about it can become complicated.

The health occupations students at High Plains Technology Center want to help parents find the answers.

The students will provide information about autism during the Rally ‘Round Children festival at the Woodward County Fair Grounds this coming Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

HPTC Health Careers Instructor Polly Cottom said, “Autism affects a large number of kids in the United States, and even though we’re learning more about autism, it’s still not well understood and I think the public needs to know more about it.  Hopefully, we’re getting better at serving the families and the people affected with autism, but I still think we have a long way to go.”

According to the website for the "autism science and advocacy organization" Autism Speaks (www.autismspeaks.org), “one in every 150 children is diagnosed with autism.”

Seven-year-old Patrick Maggard, of Woodward, was diagnosed with a type of autism when he was three-years-old.  Although he does not always prefer to be around people, the brave little boy attends first grade. 

 His mother, Suellen Maggard, describes him as a joyful, normal kid. She said Patrick is also “very bright and has a photographic memory.”

But the disease does present some problems.

“Patrick is in the medium of socializing. He gets in moods where he doesn’t want to be around anyone, and other days he’ll want to be around a few people," Maggard said.

In addition, she said, "He has sensitivity to sounds.  They can bother him so bad that it puts him in pain.”

Because of issues like these, school can be a difficult place for children with autism, but Patrick’s teacher and class have become his biggest cheerleaders. 

 “I was terrified that the kids were going to make fun of him, and it’s the total opposite.  His teacher is awesome with him and explained his situation to the the other students, who are very protective of him. The whole class just absorbs him, the kids are all behind him 100 percent,” Maggard said. 

Maggard said that autism is a general term used to describe a large group of disorders. 

“For parents, they just have to do research and ask questions.  A mother knows her child better than any doctor,” she said.

A child with autism may  have a good week and then a bad week.  Maggard suggests writing the child's behaviors down in a journal.

“Patrick would show different behaviors at home than he would at the doctor's office.  If I would not have written things down he may not have been diagnosed properly,” she said.

According to the Autism Speaks website, the cause for the vast majority of autism cases are unknown.  Treatment for autism can be a very intensive undertaking, in which Maggard said “can be done a lot of different ways.”

“It has not been cured, but it can be helped," Maggard said.  "For my son ADHD and autism go hand in hand.  If he is on his medication, it allows him to focus and really soak things up.  There are also different things out there that help him learn.”

She added, “We are satisfied how he is, we love the quirky and funny things he does and we don’t want to change him.”

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