KINGSTON, Jamaica – But for his eyes, one of which is noticeably smaller than the other, one would not immediately know that six-year-old Aiden has five special needs conditions.

His mother, Tameisha Drysdale said her son taught himself to count to 100 at the age of one, speaks Spanish, and is already reading at a grade three level.

This is despite being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder; receptive and expressive language disorder; cognitive bilateral microphthalmia, which means his eyes are not properly developed; vision impairment; and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Drysdale said she never anticipated that her son could be autistic as he has always been high performing. She said she first noticed his excellence at spelling and using numbers at age one.

“We’d given him a tablet [because] we realised that was [how] we could kind of get him to calm down a little bit, but he basically taught himself. We realised he started doing numbers from one to 20 in Spanish and then he started saying the different colours in Spanish,” she shared.

“So, from an early stage we realised that he was able to read well, he’s able to put words together and when he does, you’re not seeing a limitation, challenge or disability. You’re seeing this awesome individual who happens to be my son,” she gushed.

While Aiden’s eye conditions were detected shortly after birth, his autism diagnosis came after a casual visit to his paediatrician to treat a cold, and the doctor noticed that he was not responding to social cues like other children his age.

“At first, I was really in denial because we already had his eye conditions dealing with…we didn’t need to complicate this anymore,” Drysdale said.

Before the diagnosis, she said his only visible disability was the poor development of his eyes, which did not immediately open at birth.

“We were told at one point that he was blind and that he wouldn’t see. We visited many different specialists and everybody gave us a different [prognosis] where the eyes were concerned. Some said that he wouldn’t see or that he would only see outlines and all kinds of things,” she related.

The eye specialist, who he visits annually, has assured that Aiden’s eye condition will not worsen as he gets older, but is unlikely to improve. Currently, he can read words that are near or in extra-large print.

Drysdale stated that she, along with his father, had to learn how to properly support their child after his multiple diagnoses.

She added that he was recommended for language, speech and behavioural therapy, and has to be enrolled in a school that supports children with special needs.

“The journey has been difficult. I can’t say that it has been easy. It really has been a roller coaster ride,” she admitted.

She said that financially, it has also been burdensome.

“The specialist recommended three different sets of therapy. On average, it was between $10,000 to $15,000 per session for roughly half an hour…and he was recommended for at least two sessions of each per week,” she informed.

“We really [need more] offerings to help children with autism…even with insurance, we don’t have a lot of policies that would cover it,” she pointed out.

Drysdale is grateful for the community of support her family provides for her son and is encouraging other mothers to not isolate themselves when faced with the challenges of parenting a child with special needs.

Drysdale is optimistic about her son’s future and while she said the ultimate decision for a career would be his, the intention is to expose him to studies in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) field, for which he shows an affinity.

As Jamaica celebrates Child Month in May, her wish is for society to be more tolerant and understanding of children with special needs.

She notes that children with autism are often seen as “rude” when they become unsettled in the public space, and this needs to change.

Meanwhile, Aiden’s teacher, Andrene Adams, who has worked with children with special needs for several years, said structure and routine are important for children like Aiden.

“That structure [in the classroom] includes having special seating arrangements, and the location of the learning areas where I put their activities and toys. I have something in my classroom that helps them know what we’re supposed to be doing now, what we’re going to do next, because this helps them to stay in line,” she explained.

Adams said that parental involvement is also crucial.

“The response I got from Aiden’s parents was very heart-warming for me because I meet with a lot of parents with children with special needs and most times, they’re in denial, or still angry about the situation,” she pointed out.

The combination of therapy, parental involvement, and strategies implemented by his teacher, who has a master’s degree in special education, is resulting in daily improvements in Aiden’s receptive and expressive language disorder.

“That disorder is something that usually comes with autism for some persons, and it means they normally repeat everything you say. So before, if I say ‘good morning Aiden’ he will respond, ‘good morning Aiden.’ So, he would not be having a conversation with me,”Adams explained.

With consistent work, Adams shared that Aiden is now having conversations with other students in his class.

She highlights the need for more teachers to be trained in how to work with these special children, and for specialised treatment and care to be more accessible and affordable.

Parents and guardians of children with special needs are advised to contact the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Special Education Unit for their child to be professionally assessed and supported.

The unit monitors the special education programme for children in six areas – hearing impairments, visual impairments, physical impairments, mental retardation, giftedness and learning disabilities.

The unit also supervises special education facilities in private homes and community-based schools and groups. In addition, the unit offers curriculum supervision and monitoring services, and facilitates training, networking, assessment and programme planning.

– JIS