Autism group offers help, hope to sufferers

by AnnMarie Costella, Assistant Editor, Queens Chronicle

A father takes his autistic son on a shopping trip to a mall. While there, the child wants to go into a toy store, but the father is in a hurry, so he refuses. The child, knowing no other way to express his frustration, throws himself to the ground and begins screaming “Somebody help me. Help me please.”

Shortly thereafter, with other shoppers looking on, three mall security officer appeared on the scene to try and figure out what was going on. Before he knew it, the dad found himself in handcuffs and sitting in the back of a police car. After about 45 minutes of explaining and the cops getting nowhere by asking the boy what his father had done to hurt him, he is released.

That actually happened to Andrew Baumann, CEO of New York Families for Autistic Children, and his son, Anthony, who was diagnosed with autism at three and a half years of age. Baumann shared the story during a presentation he gave about the disability at York College on Monday, hosted by City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans).

“Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability with some estimates showing that 1.5 million Americans are living with the disease,” Comrie said. “We need to do as much as we can to find a cause and possible cure for autism, which is a neurological disorder.”

NYFAC will be opening a new location on June 1 at 164-14 Crossbay Blvd. in Howard Beach. The $5 million project is being paid for through city, state and federal funding — half of which came from the Queens delegation of the City Council.

Although there is no cure for autism and there is no definitive answer as to what causes it, there is help for sufferers and their families. The key, according to Baumann, is early detection. He said parents should consult a neurologist immediately if they suspect their child might be autistic. Early intervention is possible from birth to age three.

“Kids with autism have very simple needs,” Baumann said. “They have very simple wants. They just want to know that they are safe and they’re secure and they’re loved. If they have that, the boundaries are endless.”

There will be more children diagnosed this year with autism than with AIDS or with juvenile diabetes, childhood cancer and asthma combined, Baumann said. Back when his son was diagnosed, he was told one in 2,500 children have autism. Today it’s one in 100, he said.

Theodora Turner-Kenny of the Bronx was one of about 10 people at the event. She came at the behest of a member of her mosque and wanted to find out more about how she could help her 4-year-old grandson, Jabril, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two.

Turner-Kenny said she was concerned that her son-in-law is being too passive and allowing Jabril to misbehave, perhaps out of confusion on how to interact with a child who has the disability. She said she plans to seek help for her family through NYFAC.

Autism is a spectrum disorder meaning that it affects every child differently, impairing at different levels the way they function, learn and can be taught, according to Baumann, who is a psychologist by trade specializing in drug and alcohol addiction.

“They will drop on a dime,” Baumann said of autistic children.“They will scream and yell. They will spin around. They will run away. They will just look at you,” Baumann explained. “ … So, kids with autism are unique, but they are not that much different.”

Some autistic children are referred to as savants — having one specific expert area of knowledge. For Baumann’s son, Anthony, now 18, it’s U.S. Presidents. He can rattle off details about them without a second thought — everything from how long they served and their stands on certain issues to where they are buried and the names of their wives and children.

“But if you took a bunch of change from your pocket, and you threw it on the table, and you said ‘Anthony, give me 37 cents,’ —he couldn’t do it,” Baumann said. “He wouldn’t have a clue.”

In order to help autistic children learn and develop, one must understand their cues — the things that help them feel comfortable or allow them to express themselves.

At NYFAC, based in Ozone Park, staffers teach clients different simple skills — everything from making their bed and preparing a sandwich to fastening a button or washing a piece of clothing. The group also offers a number of recreational sports as well and individual and group counseling

Autistic children will often express themselves in atypical ways because they can’t verbalize simple things like letting someone know that they are hungry, sick, tired or lonely. Some children are so severely affected that even putting on a pair of gloves could be a major chore, but that doesn’t mean they can’t live productive lives.

“I can never forget that these kids are kids,” Baumann said,“and they are individuals who need help, and want help, and deserve help.”

NYFAC TO START RENOVATIONS ON $4.9M HOWARD BEACH AUTISM FACILITY

The puzzle pieces on the wall of what will be the new nearly $5 million, 10,000-square-foot autistic services facility at 164-14 Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach are meant to be symbolic, said Andrew Baumann, CEO of nonprofit New York Families for Autistic Children (NYFAC).

“Autism is a puzzle; it’s about finding the missing pieces,” he said.

The Ozone Park-based nonprofit, which provides services for more than 300 families in Queens and Brooklyn, hopes to help those families find those missing pieces in the form of new programs that their facility—scheduled to open in June—will provide.

Renovations at the new site are expected to take 90 days, with NYFAC officials slating June 1 as the official ribbon-cutting ceremony that will mark the opening of the facility.

Between support, training, clinical and recreational services, NYFAC, founded in 1998, currently offers at least 18 different programs for families. The added room at the new two-floor facility on Cross Bay Boulevard will allow the agency to add new programs such as art, music and drama for children with autism.

The $4.9 million in funding for the facility—split between city, state and federal funding sources—includes $2.5 million from the Queens delegation to the council, $1.5 million from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s budget, $300,000 from Congressman Gregory Meeks, $200,000 appropriated by former state Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer prior to her stepping down last year, and $200,000 from state Senator Malcolm Smith.

Baumann called funding the facility, a project in the making for the last six years, a joint effort on local, state and federal levels.

While NYFAC currently provides support groups and informational session workshops for parents and professionals, the nonprofit’s current facility in Ozone Park, Baumann said, does not have the space necessary to do much more than that.

“I can’t have kids here; we don’t have the room for it. So the new building is going to be completely dedicated to the kids that we serve,” he said.

It took NYFAC roughly 15 months to iron out the details on the property deal involving the Cross Bay Boulevard facility—formerly the site of now-closed Chinese restaurant Danny’s Schezuan, which was owned by Danny Chan, a close friend of Baumann’s.

The nonprofit closed the deal on the property last June. Chan, who last owned the property, donated a piano for the music center, which will be dedicated to the Chan family.

NYFAC plans to use the additional space provided by the facility to house adult programs, children’s programs, speech therapy, socialization and music classes, first aid, a sensory room for occupational therapy, and a full working kitchen to teach home economics. That’s just the first floor.

The second floor will provide space for an instructional room, computer room, meeting room, board room, and administrative offices, among others.

Also featured on the second floor will be a TV studio to web cast instructional videos, presentations, lessons for kids, training programs, or even shows that children sing or act in at the center.

“We want to make our community a big part of this building, so community involvement is key to us,” said Baumann.

Adding additional programs such as those, Baumann said, would go a long way towards providing assistance to local families with loved ones struggling with autism.

“One in a hundred kids get diagnosed in with autism,” he said. “Whether you’re in Queens or elsewhere, it’s a big issue.”

With the current facility, NYFAC sends employees to local homes three to four days a week to work with autistic children, where they teach them activities in daily living—which are basic social interactions such as learning to shop at a store.

From a parent’s point of view, Cheryl Marsh, NYFAC’s executive director, whose own daughter, Tori, was diagnosed with autism, pointed out that the struggles that come with raising a child with autism are many, which make any extra support vital for families to cope.

“The word is ‘more’,” Marsh said. “Every child has tantrums, but our children have them longer and much more intense. Every child goes to doctors, [but] we have specialists for everything. Everything is just more, and it can be extremely overwhelming.”

“The beauty of NYFAC is that we’re all together,” she added. “When your child is the one that is rolling on the floor and screaming, nobody is going to look at you, nobody is going to judge you…we’re in this together and we understand. When we first started NYFAC, we did it ourselves, and there was nothing. Now we can give back to the people that come after us.”

By Jean-Paul Salamanca

Forum Newsgroup Photo by Jean-Paul Salamanca

jp-salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.cm