The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

When Bahamian parents Venita and Mario Carey’s son was diagnosed with autism, they were in the dark about the disease. At the time, there was not much awareness about autism and how the disorder presents itself. Cole was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, a high functioning form of autism at the age of 10.

Autism is a complex developmental disorder and is believed by experts to present itself during the first three years of a child’s life. The condition is the result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function. It affects the development of the person’s communication and social interaction skills.

Children with Aspergers syndrome have trouble with social situations. They also do not pick up on social cues, dislike changes to routines, avoid eye contact, talk a lot about a favourite subject or may appear to lack empathy.

Cole is now 16 years old and progressing better than ever. Although he has had many gains, the journey was a challenging one, Mrs Carey told Tribune Health.

“Having a child with a challenge changes your family life and your daily life. You have to teach them everything. You have to teach them things regular children automatically know like ‘how close to stand to people, how to shake hands, what is appropriate, what is not appropriate. Everything that you and I learn as common sense they do not. They need constant supervision,” she said.

“I think when you understand what the disorder is about, why children do what they do, you are better able to deal with it. You understand that children with Aspergers say things out loud or think out loud. When the doctor explained things to us it made me understand why when he see’s a fire truck he asks about 200 questions in the next two minutes about the fire truck. He thinks different from what you and I think because we filter what we think. They say everything and sometimes that is not so good because they may say something inappropriate because they do not understand that they should not say that person looks ‘ugly’. They just say exactly what they are thinking and you have to teach them what to say and let them know they cannot say things that will hurt someone else’s feelings. That is often very challenging,” she said.

Mrs Carey said parenting an autistic child requires all of one’s attention, time and energy. She had to make major life changes just so her son could have a good quality life.

“I could not work at all. Having a child with disabilities present so many challenges I cannot begin to speak about. I now work part time because back then Cole went to school half of the day, and the rest of the day he went to Dr Michelle Major for therapy,” she said.

Dr Michelle Major, who recently returned home after participating in a special education symposium in Dubai, leads the team of professionals at the Seahorse Institute, a special needs training centre for children with autism and other developmental delays. During the symposium she spoke about early detection, and assessments for autism spectrum disorders.

She first founded the non-profit organisation in June 2010 on Shirley Street to help improve the lives of children with all disabilities including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities to more severe challenges, such as autism, mental retardation, selective mutism, and language delays.

To train the 24 students currently enrolled requires an extensive amount of work and resources. Dr Major said there is a demand locally for more qualified professionals in the area.

“We have too many children across the board with disabilities. We are not addressing children with learning disabilities across the board. We need more specialists, more speech and language therapists, school psychologists, just different types of areas that help children with special needs. When I first came back home five years ago, no one was doing what I was doing. A lot of Bahamians did not come back home and now I get asked for applications for Bahamians who want to work. They say ‘I can come back home now I know there is a place’. Not everyone can come back home and open an office or a centre so we need more Bahamians to come back home,” she said.

Dr Major said there are no definitive requirements for this field, however persons interested must be hardworking and dedicated.

“The way I pick a team member is really not about degrees and paper, but if they have the gift or not and whether I can train them to work with a child at the best capacity. The people I usually hire have a psychology background more than a special needs background because really behind what we do is behavioural which is more psychological. I find psychologists do a really good job at the roles. You have to be patient, you have to be open, you have to be loving, you have to know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it. There is no emotional reaction, nobody can be upset. I can have somebody with a million degrees who cannot do that. So it all depends,” she said.

Dr Major said although the work carried out at the Seahorse Institute and the Caribbean Centre for Chid Development requires a lot off sleepless nights, her passion for it keeps her going.

“I love seeing the progress and I love every week multiple stories of students who cannot speak are now speaking, students who were not potty trained are potty trained. These are little miracles for parents who cannot do it on their own and so it gives me a high to do it every day,” she said.

Ever since a fire destroyed a portion of the Seahorse Institute’s Shirley Street property in December and displace the students, the organisation has been tasked with finding a new home. It currently operates from St Andrew’s Presbyterian Kirk and is seeking to raise to $400,000 to secure a new building. So far, people in the community have expressed interests in donating to the cause.