BY: Mark A. Yearwood

Five years ago, she could not tell her story. For Paulette Lewis and her autistic son Matthew, living with autism has been a long and difficult journey, one that on many nights left the married, Scarborough mother of three in tears. But Lewis is in a different place now — and so is her son.

Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first three years of life and affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills. With nearly one in 165 children affected by autism and other related disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a significant issue for an increasing number of Canadian families.

By the time Matthew was two, his mother noticed that he wasn’t meeting normal developmental benchmarks. “He was slow to develop language, and was having difficulty acquiring basic skills,” Lewis says. Feedback from preschool and kindergarten teachers that Matthew was not learning at a normal rate pushed Lewis to seek medical attention, and her son was eventually diagnosed with ASD at the age of four.

Lewis is thankful for his early diagnosis, saying, “It has made all the difference for Matthew.” Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou, of the Bloorview Rehab Research Institute in Toronto, confirms, “Early diagnosis that leads to early intervention is more likely to lead to positive outcomes. While it is never too late to begin intervention, an early start will help to rewire the brain, as opposed to a later start where managing the behaviour of the child may only be possible.”

The costs, both financial and emotional, of helping an autistic child like Matthew can overwhelm a family. Dori Zener, a social worker at Bloorview, stresses the importance of families seeking community support to ease the burden. “There are various support groups for parents and siblings of autistic children,” says Zener. “And parents should also investigate options for financial assistance at both the provincial and federal levels of government.”

Matthew, now a grade nine student, is performing well at school where he is enrolled in a mainstream class while receiving additional educational supports. Though there are moments when his mother grieves for the child he is not, she remains full of hope and love for her son, saying: “We’ve set clear goals for him, and we expect him to do well in life. I see the beauty in my boy.”