Autism on the Rise and a Young Mother's Struggle Monica Luhar - LA Beez | |
go to original October 1, 2012 |
24-year-old Olga Chinchilla, with her 6-year-old son Anakin, who was diagnosed with autism at 22 months of age.
Olga Chinchilla, then 18 and pregnant, sat glued to the television screen, intrigued by a report on a developmental disorder that impairs social skills.
"I remember sitting there and had never heard about the disability before," said Chinchilla. "Little did I know that in three years my son Anakin was going to be diagnosed with autism."
Initially, she said she ignored signs that her son potentially had autism — a developmental disorder that is exhibited in impaired comprehension, language barriers, and repetitive behaviors — because she was in shock and did not quite know what to expect. "I was the one in denial," she said. Her family's reaction did not help. "Being Hispanic, the typical thing they tell you is that 'it's okay, he's a boy. Boys develop a lot slower than girls do.'"
But there was something alarming and oddly different about Anakin's behavior. At 12 months, he could not walk or talk. There were many times when Anakin could not even look his mother directly in the eyes. He did not like it when anyone touched him and he would often slam doors and spin objects in a repetitive manner — warning signs that eventually prompted Chinchilla to seek help from a pediatrician, a health center and then a psychologist.
Chinchilla, now 24, has transitioned from initial disbelief and denial of her son's diagnosis, to struggling as a single mother to find the right resources for Anakin and later advocating and educating others about the rights of families of children with developmental disabilities in the Alhambra area.
Anakin was diagnosed with autism at 22 months and later began receiving funds for ABA therapies at age four at Alhambra's East Los Angeles Regional Center (ELARC), one of 21 resource and service centers in the state of California catering to individuals with developmental disabilities.
Gloria Wong, executive director of ELARC says that 38 percent of their clients are diagnosed with autism, the second largest diagnosis at the center, after mental retardation. Nationally, autism cases have spiked in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 88 children have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, a 23 percent increase from CDC's 2009 report. Additionally, more children are being diagnosed at an earlier age and the disability seems much more prevalent in boys than girls.
Read more at LA Beez Ethnic News Hub
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