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special child

The New Face of AUTISM
By Matt Stringer

Harrison Carroll, 9, struggled with his mom, Veronica, every morning before school. Veronica would physically pull his arms through his shirt sleeves before hauling him off to school. He didn’t want to go. That may sound like a morning in any number of homes across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. But, Harrison has Asperger’s Syndrome, and he was not putting his clothes on and not boarding the bus because he hated learning, but because he wanted to go to a typical classroom not a special needs one.

“I would have to take him out of the car and put him on the sidewalk to go to school,” Veronica said. “He didn’t want to be a not normal child, for lack of a better word.”

But all that has changed now. Harrison is attending Our Lady Of Good Counsel in Moorestown, N.J. He is being mainstreamed, learning and going to school with all his friends and his sister Madeline now.

“I used to pick Madeline up and he used to say ‘I just want to go to Good Counsel. I want to go to Good Counsel,’” Veronica said. “When he got in Good Counsel was the first time I saw this little boy cry. It was the most emotional day for our family. It was such a moment for us–we never thought we would see this happen where he would get to go to Catholic school.”

Harrison is the second student with Autism Spectrum Disorder to attend the school. The first was Gavin Lynch, 7, the son of Veronica’s friend, Paula. Gavin has been going to school at Good Counsel for three years.

The opportunity to be mainstreamed arose when Paula, whose son Carter attends Good Counsel, dressed up as Dr. Seuss for the author’s birthday one year and told the Vice Principal that she wished Gavin was able to attend the school. The Vice Principal, Ms. Gallagher, said she’d speak to Principal McGowan. Now the ball was rolling.

Principal McGowan had no problem with giving it a try as long as Paula took care of any special requirements that Gavin needed that Good Counsel could not provide for him.

“You really have to credit the principal though. If he didn’t ok it we wouldn’t be here today,” Paula said. “If theses kids are given the right support they can function in a typical environment. They need someone to give them a break, that’s what they need.”

And that’s what Principal McGowan gave them. A break. A chance. Veronica said he “sees the spirit in these kids.”

And that wasn’t just a huge step for Good Counsel but for Gavin as well who couldn’t speak at 3 years old.

“At 3, he was functioning at a 9-month-old level,” Paula said. “His first therapist wanted to teach him sign language; they didn’t think he’d ever speak. I told him he’s not learning sign language. The thing that saved Gavin’s life is he started 20 hours of ABA [applied behavioral analysis] therapy a week. In six to eight weeks he was speaking in sentences.”

Applied Behavioral Analysis [ABA] is defined as the      science in which the principles of behavior are applied systematically to improve socially significant behavior. In other words, it’s the practice of using different types of drills to bring about positive change in behavior.

“He did not know how to interact with another human being at 3 years old,” Paula said. “They would get him to say ‘Hi my name Is Gavin. What’s your name?’ There are series of drills. Each one works on a different facet of the kid’s development. In the early years, it was getting him to say the word juice. They would literally spend all day getting him to say three words. He’s developed tremendously since then. Now he works on memory skills, hand writing, academics.”

And ABA was key in helping Gavin and luckily it happened early enough because he would have trouble remembering what he had for lunch before. “I never thought he would be doing what he is doing today,” Paula said.

Gavin has been attending Good Counsel since pre-school. But Harrison, who is in third grade now, hasn’t always gone to Our Lady Of Good Counsel.

Paula says that being in a class where you only interact with other children with autism has pros and cons. “Most of these spectrum kids model behavior,” she said. “You want them to model good behavior you don’t want them to model other bad behavior. Gavin was in the autistic class for a year, and he came home one day and smashed his head into the wall. I pulled him out, and he never had behaviors like that again.”

Like Gavin, all Harrison really needed was a chance to be mainstreamed. “Harrison really was the odd man out not going there,” Veronica said. “He’s dying to learn. These boys worked so hard to get where they are with all the therapy. They want to be mainstreamed.”

And Harrison has never been happier now that he is going to Good Counsel. “When they hit these milestones, I can’t even describe that,” Veronica said. “It’s like a feeling of hope.”

But Harrison wasn’t without triumph at the last school he attended. Harrison won the Young Heroes Award in Philadelphia for helping his friend David who has loss of capability to both his arms. But David learned to play the piano with his feet.

“Harrison instead of letting kids make fun of him took off both his shoes and played with him so he could blend in and not stand out,” Veronica said. “These kids are very compassionate. They’re very caring; they tend to look out for each other.”

And that type of compassion is one of the things Veronica loves most about Good Counsel. “I found with Good Counsel there’s such family support there,” Veronica said. “Everyone wants everyone to succeed.”

Last year at Halloween when Gavin entered a raffle and won, the whole school cheered him on, Paula added. She went further saying that many parents and children alike should also learn this type of tolerance.

“All of us need to teach our typical children tolerance,” she said. “They’re going to grow up in a world where not every child is the same. This is the first generation to grow up with so many kids that are different than them. My son who is in fourth grade, he has three families in his class who have siblings with autism. I knew one kid with an allergy when I grew up.”

Both moms hope that other children with autism too will one day be able to attend a typical classroom like their boys do because they believe that is key in helping children with autism.

“I hope it opens doors in other private schools,” Veronica said. “Harrison’s going to graduate magna cum laude from college.”

Matt Stringer is the editor of Curious Parents.