World Autism Day, annually celebrated on April 2 is designed to generate a better understanding of autism, the supports that are available, and acceptance of those living on the autism spectrum.
Autism is described as a lifelong neurological condition that manifests during early childhood.
One Kids Place Treatment Centre defines autism as “a developmental disorder of variable severity that is characterized by difficulty in social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behaviour.”
On Saturday One Kids Place (OKP) opened its doors to the community for its World Autism Day celebration.
“It is a great day for education for our community. It is a great day for our families to come and be in our building, not for therapy, but for a fun day,” explained Katharine Strang Director of Development and Community Relations.
Autism Services staff were on hand to answer questions.
”It is also an opportunity to get any information about the provincial autism program. Often when a child has a diagnosis, there are a lot of unknowns and fear and anxiety. So, we make sure that we have clear support structures for families when they get that diagnosis, in terms of what the next steps are, and what services there are in the community, not just One Kids Place, other services they may be able to access as well. So, it is an opportunity to just come and have a chat with our team, and ask any questions,” shared Carol Tremblay clinical service manager for the autism team.
In addition, it was a day for all families to explore the facility in a fun, relaxed environment.
“So, we utilized all of our special spaces. We’ve utilized our snoezelen room, which is our sensory room, we have a rock climbing wall room, we have our beam machine which is a projector that provides motion, so you can get on the ground and play soccer with it. And we have our resource centre with all of our great sensory toys and tools,” explained Strang.
Some families have been a part of the One Kids Place family for many years.
Fifteen-year-old Cayden Turner and his mom Alicia were introduced to One Kids Place when Cayden was just a little guy.
“He has a dual diagnosis of non-specified intellectual disability and autism. So, he is considered high needs,” shared Alicia.
Cayden was just over two years old when he was given his diagnosis.
“We were really lucky with Cayden. We actually knew there would be a genetic disorder to start, and they said there would be autistic tendencies. So, we did the testing when he was two and he fell on the spectrum (autism spectrum) but he had the genetic disorder before that,” explained Alicia.
“Cayden was regressing though. He had started to say a few words and lost them, so there was no speech otherwise. He was behind on development too, so walking, crawling, and all those other things. Everything was really delayed when it came to overall development.”
Being non-verbal, Cayden uses Proloquo2go a communication app on his iPad.
Images and words are found on buttons communicating the words Cayden himself is unable to say.
“He sometimes initiates conversations, especially with the wants and needs. So, if he wants to eat something he will ask, or if he just wants something,” shared his mom.
“Cayden has a really good sense of humour too; he likes to throw in little jokes here and there. He seems to be really happy overall, all the time.”
Mom Alicia appreciates the work done by One Kids Place staff in her son’s development.
“Cayden has been involved with One Kids Place since he was born because he had a heart defect and open-heart surgery, so we were working with occupational therapy, physiotherapy, right from the beginning. And then they went into more behaviour therapy and teaching him how to do daily life skills.”
It gives Alicia confidence moving forward.
“I think that especially with the new Autism Program and with One Kids Place and the therapists we have, he has actually come a long way. He is still learning things and picking things up at an increasing rate now, and he seems to understand more. One Kids Place has always been really great, to give us the flexibility of what our family needs, not just what they say needs to happen.”
There is no cookie-cutter approach when it comes to treatment.
“One thing I noticed right from the beginning is if something didn’t work for me, they would figure out a way to make it work.”
Alicia values having One Kids Place not only in Cayden’s life but her family as a whole.
“It is very family-oriented, not just about your special needs child. And they’re so welcoming in general. They’re so accommodating to everybody.”
Cayden perked up when he heard his mom talking about the summer camp program for autistic children he attended.
“When he starts babbling like this, it usually means he is in a good mood and he is happy and comfortable,” grinned Mom.
“There was a summer camp last year and he was here for about a week, and he was able to play with other kids that were special needs as well. He really enjoyed the games and activities they had for everybody and the camaraderie.”
It was important to Alicia that they attend the Autism Day celebration.
“It was so nice to be able to come out in a non-overwhelming way because Cayden usually doesn’t do well with big crowds and the way they set it up this year was just so wonderful. The students are so amazing from ATHLeadership at Canadore College, we’ve talked to all of them, and they remembered his name just by seeing him. I love it.”
Alicia describes where she would be without One Kids Place and its many services in her life.
“Probably stuck in the house right now and not knowing what I could do with him. This is really a nice and inclusive place for him to go, and it is safe.”
One Kids Place has sites in North Bay, Timmins, Muskoka, and Parry Sound.
“One Kids Place starts with kids from birth up to 19 and again up to 21 if they are in school. So, really they can be with us basically for their entire childhood and then we would age them out to other community partnerships when they are 21,” explained Strang.
One Kids Place provides a number of primary services including Autism Services.
The list of autism clients alone totals roughly 1,000 children spanning from Muskoka all the way up the James Bay coast.
