Autism center offers help, hope

When Niki Clendenin heard her 4 1/2-year-old son Andy repeat the word "Mommy" just a few weeks ago, the Marion woman could barely contain herself.

Kelli J. Tande, a graduate student in SIUC's Behavior Analysis and Therapy Program, works with 4-1/2 year-old Andy on his speech during a recent session at SIUC's Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

"I was ecstatic because you long to hear that," she said.

Andy, who has autism, stopped talking when he was about 15 months old, Clendenin explained during one of his therapy sessions at SIUC's Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

"I have seen a tremendous change in just the four short months he has been here for group therapy," she said. "There is a big difference; a big change."

Autism is a developmental disorder that delays or impairs a child's language and social behaviors and interaction relative to the child's age. It appears within the first three years of a child's life. The disorder affects children differently; some are more mildly impaired than others.

The Autism Society of America estimates that as many as 1.5 million Americans have a form of autism.

Anthony J. Cuvo, director of SIUC's center, and a professor in Behavior Analysis and Therapy, and Rebecca J. Trammel, a clinical director in the center and instructor in the Communication Disorder and Sciences program, started the program in 2000. The services are free thanks to a grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services.

The center offers diagnostic, intervention and consultation services for children with autism spectrum disorders and their families, and a training ground for graduate students. It is one of the service programs within the Rehabilitation Institute and is part of the College of Education and Human Services.

SIUC's center is one of three pilot sites in The Autism Project, and each pilot site works with a community partner. Project participants are developing model programs for diagnosing, treating and educating children with autism spectrum disorders, or ASD. This is the final year of the three-year grant, and Cuvo hopes funding is renewed.

SIUC's community partner is the Family Counseling Center in Vienna. The center is implementing model treatment programs promoting social interaction for children younger than school age, and also programs for children who attend school.

The other two pilot sites for the Autism Project are at the University of Chicago and at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. The medical school's community partner is the Hope School.

"What we have to offer is this combination of the University's expertise in behavior analysis and speech therapy and the systematic approach to instruction that we provide that is not available anyplace else," he said.

More information is also available by contacting the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at 536-2122.

- Pete Rosenbery