weiner the end of autism acceptance month we're sharing the story of a teen girl and her journey with autism AJ is here and she spoke with that girl and also spoke with others who helped her along her journey I did it was a pleasure to meet her her name is Lauren and I met her and her mom at the Judson Center where she's been getting developmental help since she was a toddler and hearing not only her story but her mom's too really shined a light on the importance to have a support system around
so that kids with autism can get the best chance that they have in life many ways Lauren Stevens has grown up like most girls her age having fun being creative expressing herself and enjoying life I like to go swimming I like to dance I do cheerleading and um I love playing volleyball but I wish but sometimes in high school I'm going to be on the volleyball team but she's special she was diagnosed with autism when she was just a toddler something her mom Jamila says was tough to hear I was scare
d because I was um contemplating what her future would be like and what life would be like for her with this diagnosis but that diagnosis was also empowering when I was relieved because having a clear diagnosis means that I had an Avenue to take and a plan of action that plan was made here at the Judson Center a facility that specializes in helping children with autism I came here since I was like really little and I've been learning a lot CEO Lenora Hardy Foster has has known Lauren since she w
as a child and was instrumental in getting her the treatment she would need to have a normal childhood and go as far in life as possible Lenora says deciding to get a child evaluated for autism is not easy for many parents how important is it for a child with autism to start getting treatment for it it's extremely extremely important the earlier you get started that early intervention is extremely important a lot of times parents you don't want to accept that there might be something just a litt
le different maybe the child is two years old and not really making any sounds not really developing any social behavior skills not interacting with people and a lot of times parents don't want to reach out and try to seek help but when they do it can make a world of difference so we are heading to our sensory room which is a really great place for our kids to have a lot of fun but also gain a lot of skills we we host Circle time in here we have some books some great activity play for them so th
is swing right here this is one of the tools that you use and how does how does that benefit the children yeah so it helps with sensory regulation so of course as we've discussed it's a really fun activity but it can help with that sometimes if they're seeking out sensory input this can be a really great way to do so Lauren is 13 now and her mom says she's growing both physically and mentally each day and she's excited about her daughter's future according to the CDC about one in six children Ag
e 3 to 17 years old were diagnosed with a developmental disability and that's from 2009 to 2017. so that shows you how important awareness and acceptance is for kids on the Spectrum she is an impressive young lady and it's hard to do a story like that without walking away with something personally and I'm sure you did I did just the biggest thing that I took away was that kids want to be kids they need that so we all have to do our part to make sure we're giving them the support system they need
so that they can grow and be that the best that they can be yeah it is so important all right thank you AJ
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