Sunday, June 03, 2007
No group discount for autism care - Washington Post
Best birthday gift for triplets is not upsetting their uneasy equilibrium
Randy and Lynn Gaston received the distressing diagnosis not once but three times.
Their sons, Zachary, Hunter and Nicholas, are triplets, and as the brown-haired boys grew into toddlers, Lynn noticed how oddly they played, how little they babbled, how they cried inconsolably at doctor's offices and family gatherings.
Two years ago, when the boys were 4, specialists confirmed the Gastons' suspicions: The boys have varying degrees of autism, a neurological disorder that hampers communication and social interactions and can include obsessive-compulsive behavior.
...
Now even mundane details of the daily routine are carefully orchestrated, driven by the boys' need for sameness: identical sheets on their beds, baths in the same order every night, the same kind of pizza from the same kind of box.
The Gastons rarely go out as a couple; it's difficult to find babysitters. The family has never eaten in a restaurant together, because crowded, unfamiliar environments sometimes make the boys anxious and upset. And the couple never get a full night's rest.
...
Zachary speaks in snippets, Hunter speaks only occasionally and Nicholas doesn't speak at all.
"We want words. We want speech," said Randy ... It would be a special day, say the Gastons, if their boys complained of a stomachache or said they were hungry. ...
Best birthday gift for triplets is not upsetting their uneasy equilibrium
Randy and Lynn Gaston received the distressing diagnosis not once but three times.
Their sons, Zachary, Hunter and Nicholas, are triplets, and as the brown-haired boys grew into toddlers, Lynn noticed how oddly they played, how little they babbled, how they cried inconsolably at doctor's offices and family gatherings.
Two years ago, when the boys were 4, specialists confirmed the Gastons' suspicions: The boys have varying degrees of autism, a neurological disorder that hampers communication and social interactions and can include obsessive-compulsive behavior.
...
Now even mundane details of the daily routine are carefully orchestrated, driven by the boys' need for sameness: identical sheets on their beds, baths in the same order every night, the same kind of pizza from the same kind of box.
The Gastons rarely go out as a couple; it's difficult to find babysitters. The family has never eaten in a restaurant together, because crowded, unfamiliar environments sometimes make the boys anxious and upset. And the couple never get a full night's rest.
...
Zachary speaks in snippets, Hunter speaks only occasionally and Nicholas doesn't speak at all.
"We want words. We want speech," said Randy ... It would be a special day, say the Gastons, if their boys complained of a stomachache or said they were hungry. ...
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