Mother's experience leads to autism awareness work

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) — Thomas the Tank Engine is a favorite friend of many children, but trains consume David Espinoza's life.

David, 3, is autistic. He constantly plays with his toy trains.

He takes them to the park and plays with them in the pews at Logansport First Assembly of God. He would walk on the rails of train tracks if his parents let him.

"He's obsessed with them," said his mother, Marlene Espinoza.

It's Espinoza's own experiences with her son that led to her involvement in an awareness campaign called "Light It Up Blue," which local organizers hope will help residents learn what autism is and how prevalent it is in the area. Campaign participants will install blue light bulbs in outside fixtures at the beginning of April to kick off national Autism Awareness Month.

Espinoza's passion for autism awareness started when her son showed signs of the slowed development associated with the syndrome.

David was first tentatively diagnosed by the family's pediatrician at 8 months old, then again at 18 months. That's when Marlene and her husband, Victor, decided to enroll David in First Steps, the state's early intervention program that provides therapy for children up to 3 years old.

"He wasn't walking. He wasn't rolling over. He was just having a hard time," Espinoza said. "Most of it was not interacting with other children and tantruming. He couldn't speak."

In David, autism manifests itself in that single-minded attention to trains. He also struggles to speak more than one word at a time and tends to throw severe tantrums.

But last summer, David was going to be old enough to be out of First Steps and would have to transition into special education through Logansport Community School Corporation.

"I knew there was going to be a waiting period over the summer, and he didn't have that time," Espinoza said. "I knew, knew, knew that early intervention was key."

When David got too old to participate in First Steps, she resigned her position as an aide at Logansport Area Joint Special Services Cooperative to care for her son full time.

Autism affects communication, behavior and social relationships. It can't be prevented, and no fully effective treatments or cure are known.

However, early intervention has been shown to improve children's behavior significantly, according to Mayo Clinic.

That's a principle Espinoza believes wholeheartedly.

David's behavior improved significantly over the last year, his mother says, because of one-on-one therapy she's given him.

"An autistic child is no different than your typical child," she said. "They want to learn. They just learn differently."

She has used trains many times to get David to focus on what she's teaching him.

An iPad the family's church donated last week has helped, too. One application on it uses trains to teach spelling.

"It has everything that you'd have in school, but it's a train," Espinoza said. "And because it's a train teaching him, he's ready to do whatever the train wants."

She hopes David will eventually learn enough communication and social skills to participate in regular classrooms.

In the meantime, Espinoza is trying to let more Logansport families with autistic children know how they can find help.

She is heading up local participation in the national awareness campaign sponsored by Autism Speaks. She is encouraging residents and businesses to substitute blue light bulbs in their outdoor fixtures April 1 and 2.

Espinoza's church, Logansport First Assembly, sold more than 200 blue light bulbs to simultaneously support the awareness campaign and raise funds to purchase David's iPad.

Kelly Scott, a spokeswoman for the church, said she was initially surprised at how many friends had connections to autistic children.

"There's such a need out there for awareness of it," Scott said. "They're not weird. They're just special children of God that have a missing puzzle piece."

The mothers involved in the campaign say they hope people will donate toward autism research or at least become more aware of how autistic children function.

"When they hear autism, they think of 'Rain Man,'" said Krista Wilburn, whose 6-year-old son Collin was diagnosed with a disorder on the autism spectrum. "And that's the way I was, too."

She hopes that people understand "that he's not trying to annoy you out at a restaurant" when her son throws a tantrum or behaves atypically. "He just can't help the way he acts."

And for families who have children already diagnosed with autism, the mothers hope the blue lights will help them get connected to other families with similar struggles.

"I know we can't be the only ones in that situation," Espinoza said. "So that's what the message is — to know that as parents, you're not alone."

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Information from: Pharos-Tribune, http://www.pharostribune.com