December 5, 2005

 

Clair O'Hare Johnston

Republican

 

Dear Governor Manchin,

       Hello, my name is Clair Johnston, and my husbands name is Cliff Johnston, and we have a son named Austin who was recently diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome.  For several years now we have been suspicious of our child's extremely shy behavior, and believed it may be indicative of a more deep seated problem.  He was always quiet and withdrawn, usually retreating into some corner of the house to draw incredibly intricate designs on his tablet.  He could open up, emotionally, a little bit to me, his father, and his older brother, Kyle, but to the rest of the world, Austin was "off limits".   The situation has only worsened over the past few years, and now Austin is ten years old and in the fifth grade.  Austin's behavior was becoming more extreme, it seemed, with the passage of each day.  Austin has always done well in his studies and always finished assignments correctly and on time, but when it came time for him to participate  with the class, he would freeze up, and shrink back into a state of self seclusion.  Things that would make other children feel more comfortable and at ease, like a hug from a friend or pat on the back from a teacher for a job well done, made Austin feel very uneasy and stressed.  The type of situation we were facing with Austin drove me to research, online, for disorders that might be characteristic of the ways in which my son was behaving.  After a few weeks of periodic internet "surfing", I came across a webpage explaining a disorder that was characteristic of the symptoms my son expressed.  The disorder was Aspergers.

    Aspergers is a disorder located on the high-functioning end of the spectrum of Autistic disorders.  It affects personality and can cause a general lack in language ability due to the sufferers objection to interacting socially and developing communicative skills.  Characteristic as well are odd behaviors (repetitions, compulsive activities, etc.) and fits of depression brought on due to the lack of social reciprocity.  This seemed very similar to the what my child seemed to be dealing with, so we had him tested, through Autistic Services of Huntington, and sure enough, he was diagnosed with the disorder.

     Initially, it didn't seem to matter to Austin one way or the other that he had been labeled an Aspergers sufferer.  It appeared to us he simply took it all in stride.  We set up therapy sessions with a speech language pathologist named Will Miller, and prepared to support our boy in his attempts at remediation.  It was latter realized, after reading two journal entries written in Austin's journal and an acrostic poem he wrote about this disorder, by Austin's father and I that he was more concerned about this disorder than was originally perceived by us.  We spoke to Mr. Miller about this, and he made a visit to our house and brought with him a pamphlet about Aspergers that would provide the whole family with a easily read description of the disorder as to clear up any misconceptions we might have.  As a companion tool, to further increase Austin's treatment, as well as our understanding of the disorder, Mr. Miller brought his laptop with him that had a power point program on it concerning Aspergers, the visual images on the presentation were very vibrant and held Austin's attention well, seeing as how he is a very visual person anyway.  After about a week of therapy, our concerns about how well our son would deal with Aspergers and the therapy concerning it were somewhat alienated after reading an email transcript to us by Austin's brother, Kyle, who is attending Marshall University, that regarded an email exchange between him and his brother that basically conveyed Austin's ease at which he was interacting with his Speech Language Pathologist and his determination to take therapy seriously in order to function more normally.

     Governor Wise, I bring you the story of our son for a reason.  I ask that you provide as much support as possible to any or all legislation acts concerning the funding of programs concerning the early intervention, treatment plans, public education, and research of Aspergers disorders.  Some of the children on the high-end of this spectrum can, if properly attended to and treated, go on to become productive members of society.  These types of children could go on to attend college, due to the majority of them having a normal and sometimes above normal I.Q., and enter the work force in order to further aid in strengthening the support structure of West Virginia's economy.  I ask Governor Wise, that you support programs that can guide children like Austin, out of their corner and into the world to perhaps, with his individual abilities, make it better.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Thank You.  Sincerely,          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Clair Johnston