Autism's Toll Disability Wears On Family/ Autism Research Fundraiser Set 9-12

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FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER Sacramento, California http://www.feat.org

" Healing Autism: No Finer a Cause on the Planet "

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September 1, 2000

Autism's Toll Disability Wears On Family/ Autism Research Fundraiser Set

9-12

[by - Craft North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Sunday

7-30-00.]

http://www.myrtlebeachaccess.com

Fatigue laces Karyn Addington's voice.

Any mother of six would sound tired in the middle of the summer when

all of her children surround her playing, laughing, crying and sometimes

fighting.

But lately worry also overpowers her every thought and action.

Last week Karyn's 9-year-old son Hunter chased her 2-year-old daughter

Skyllar around the house with a hammer. The episode ended when Skyllar

closed the glass door behind her. Hunter slammed his face through the door.

“The doctor said he was lucky he wasn't blind,” Karyn said.

Hunter, who was diagnosed with autism four years ago, is becoming

increasingly harder for Karyn and her husband, , to control. The little

boy with closely cropped brown hair and huge brown eyes doesn't know how to

deal with the world around him. He doesn't comprehend the needs and feelings

of others. Hunter doesn't talk, and he rarely expresses interest in his five

siblings. When he does it's usually to lash out, Karyn said.

“It's getting to the point that and I are going to have to choose

who lives where,” Karyn said.

Her worst nightmare is that her family will one day be split; Hunter

would have to be put in an institution before he badly hurt one of his

brothers or sisters.

The constant abuse from Hunter at times is more than 10-year-old

Jordan can take. The quiet dark-haired boy has twice been hospitalized for

emotional problems his parents believe come from living with Hunter.

“There is so little age difference between them,” Karyn said. “We get

no time alone with Jordan.”

And 14-year-old Tristian has had to grow up before his time. The tall teen

who will be a sophomore next month at North Myrtle Beach High School takes

care of his brothers and sisters while his parents work. His father works

six days a week at a Myrtle Beach car dealership, and Karyn recently began

waiting tables at night. She works from 4 p.m. to midnight so the family can

pa! y Jordan's hospital bills and the costs of raising six children! .

Tristian knows how to change diapers, cook dinner, pass out medicine

and entertain his younger siblings. Most importantly, he knows how to deal

with Hunter. That's a job countless sitters have quit, Karyn said.

During the school year, Tristian immediately comes home after class

and relieves his mother.

But sometimes Tristian wishes he could have a normal teen-ager's life.

He has a group of friends at North Myrtle Beach High but rarely gets to see

them outside school.

“I've had enough of maturity. I'm ready to have some fun,” Tristian

said on a recent afternoon while giving Hunter medicine to calm his violent

episodes.

Hunter's violence is nothing new for the Addingtons. It's just getting

harder to control as the boy grows older, Karyn said.

From the beginning there was something different about Hunter.

Born May 17, 1991, in Gate City, Va., Hunter was the third son of

high-school sweethearts and Karyn.

Older sons Tristian and Jordan we! re happy babies who liked to be

held and cuddled. But Hunter was the exact opposite.

“As long as you didn't touch him, he was OK,” Karyn said.

He didn't talk at all, and he didn't start walking until he was 14

months old.

Hunter would go four or five days without sleeping.

After he learned to walk, Hunter began tearing apart his surroundings,

pulling food out of the refrigerator, throwing eggs on the kitchen floor and

succumbing to violent temper tantrums.

Doctors insisted there was nothing wrong. They attributed his speech

and walking delays to premature birth.

The turning point came one afternoon while Karyn waited in the grocery

store checkout line. She casually leafed through a magazine until an article

about a little girl named Ariel caught her eye. Ariel suffered from autism.

Karyn couldn't move.

“I stood there and I could have taken her name out and put Hunter's

in,” she said.

Now convinced her son was autistic, Karyn worked for the next few

weeks to get Hunter an appointment with a special list at the Medical

College of Virginia in Richmond.

“It took about a month to get the appointment and 15 minutes for them

to diagnose him with autism,” Karyn said.

Hunter was 4 years old.

That year was one of great change for the Addington family. By that

time Karyn had given birth to daughter Nikolette and she quit working to

take care of the children. No baby sitters were willing to keep Hunter, she

said.

Karyn and began thinking about leaving their hometown in eastern

Virginia, a place where they were surrounded by family, friends and a

community who knew everything about them.

They wanted a fresh start for Hunter and a school that could help him

get better.

The Addingtons had vacationed in Myrtle Beach for two years and

remembered their autistic son's connection to the seashore.

“He absolutely loves the ocean,” Karyn said. “The first thing he does

when he gets to the beach, he kisses the sand.”

Karyn called several school districts inquiring about autism programs. Her

quest ended in Horry County, which she was told had a year-round program for

autistic children, she said. The family moved to Myrtle Beach in 1996.

Four years later Karyn and are completely frustrated with Horry

County Schools.

They're angry because they've seen little progress in Hunter during

the past four years. They're angry because Hunter has attended three schools

in four years. They're angry because they say he doesn't receive the proper

programs for autistic children.

And it makes home life tough.

Hunter has escaped from his bedroom window during the night, and

Tristian has combed the neighborhood countless times looking for his

brother. The family bought a trampoline to calm Hunter's excess energy. When

he gets upset or frustrated at night he can go outside to the fenced-in back

yard and wear himself out jumping, Karyn said.

And unless Hunter improves through treatment, the family will continue

finding little ways to cope.

“It's just like having an infant that weighs 70 pounds,” Karyn said.

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Autism Research PA Fundraiser Set September 12

[From the Autism Autoimmunity Project.]

This is confirmation of the changes made to the fundraising event to

benefit Dr. Vijendra Singh, Utah State University and Dr. Wakefield,

London, England.

In attendance and speaking at the event will be Dr. Wakefield,

Dr. Vijendra Singh, and Dr. Yazbak. Karyn Seroussi, Author of

" Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder " will

also be in attendance and available for book signing!

This exciting evening will take place on September 12, 2000 at 7-11PM

at the address below. Go to the website for directions.

ph Ambler Inn

1005 Horsham Road

North Wales, PA 19454 215-362-7500

http://ygraine.membrane.com/enterhtml/live/ambler/

Don't forget to check out our Silent Auction between 7PM and 9:30PM.

There will be alot of great items to bid on!

Finally, we would like to thank you for your patience. You attendance

will help to raise money for a great cause and also bring about much needed

awareness.

_____________________________________________________

>>>>>> DAN! Conference September 16-17

>>>>>> http://www.autism.com/dan/info.html San Diego, California

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