Opening the door to a bright future

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The first day of school for every child is a day of celebration, a rite of passage into the next phase of their life.

For kindergarten student Nathan Mew of Martins Ferry his first day at "typical" school was a day many thought could never happen. Mew is autistic.

"The day you're told your child is autistic - it's awful. It's devastating news no parent ever wants to hear," said Barb Mew, Nathan's mother. "There just aren't words to describe what it feels like when you are first told your child is autistic."

" It's impossible to comprehend what that really means to your child and to your whole family," said Don Mew, Nathan's father.

Autism, a devastating neurological disorder known to have reached epidemic levels in communities across this nation is recent years, is stealing America's children and shattering dreams of bright futures once held for them by loved ones.

Until recently, parents of autistic children generally felt they had no where to turn for help, or even for basic emotional and informational support.

Isolation often becomes the norm faced by autistic children as well as for family members who care for them. But there is help and that help comes to local families dealing with autism through the top quality behavior therapy program available at The Augusta Levy Learning Center in Wheeling.

The driving force behind the center's effort is Shadyside native Kathy Porter Shapell whose efforts have already brought substantial change to local families, one autistic child at a time.

Less than two years ago Nathan's autism kept him from communicating even the most basic things to others. He could not communicate in any traditional way. The pain of this reality is worsened by the truth that no specific cause for the disorder has been determined, and the validity and effectiveness of many treatment programs are questionable at best, according to experts.

That has changed drastically over the past 18 months through the program at the Augusta Levy Center.

The program Shapell has brought to the area has a proven and solid heavily documented research based reputation.

"The Augusta Levy Learning Center is the first intensive autism treatment program in the Ohio Valley," explained Shapell. "Utilizing methods pioneered and proven by Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas of UCLA and his colleagues, and under the guidance of the Lovaas Institute For Early Intervention (LIFE), the Levy Center aims to enhance the language, social, academic and independent living skills of its students. Each student has their own unique curriculum. We develop it based on the child's needs and abilities. They receive at least 30 hours a week of intensive, one to one instruction using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)."

Explaining the system, Shapell stated, "Applied Behavior Analysis is a systematic approach to teaching small, measurable units of behavior, from relatively simple responses like making eye contact to spontaneous communication and social interaction. These skills are broken down into small steps and taught systematically through one-on-one instruction and positive reinforcement from teachers trained by the Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention (LIFE). The intervention program is based on extensive clinical experience and more than 30 years of scientific research and yields the best educational results for children with autism."

But the program is not just built on involving an individual student in the process.

It is a family effort.

"A unique component of this program is parent involvement," said Shapell. "Parents are considered the most essential part of the child's educational team and are trained by Lovaas consultants to work alongside their child's therapists and to implement programs in their home,"she said.

Even the smallest change toward a positive goal set for an autistic child is something to be celebrated, explained Shapell.

"When a child came here in a non-verbal state, and now tells me 'Hi' and they make eye-contact with me those are huge accomplishments," offered Shapell.

The center also shares its resources with the regional community.

"The Augusta Levy Learning Center is a resource for area school districts in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Educating children with autism effectively is an immense challenge. It requires a huge commitment, great skill and parent involvement. The Center is able to centralize those skills so that it can partner with area school districts in meeting this challenge," explained Shapell.

"Each child's autism is unique," she said. "No two are exactly alike, making diagnosis, management and therapeutic treatment extremely challenging to even an experienced behavioral therapist."

Nathan seems to be taking it all in stride, and that is exactly what his parents, teachers and therapists want to see happen as he moves successfully through a carefully planned and monitored transition phase.

He loves going to school, using the computer to help with his at home lessons and work, after school snacks, and playing with his beloved toy cars and trucks.

His family loves him, and they know he loves each of them because he can show them as well as tell them something he couldn't do just two years ago.

"The key thing is, you can never give up. Even when experts say there might not be any hope, we can never stop working to give Nathan and all the other kids who have autism a better life a normal life," said Don Mew. "We can't ever give up on these kids."

Speaking about his son's constant struggle against the often life shattering reality that comes with a diagnosis of autism, Don Mew said, "All we have ever wanted to do for Nathan has been is to give him a better life, a normal life."