GREENFIELD — Cassie Freeman remembers vividly the day her son Cale dropped a watermelon at the Greenfield Walmart a year and a half ago.
Just 5 years old at the time, the little boy howled in anguish after the melon crashed to the floor. He wasn’t upset that he busted it open and made a mess, but rather he was traumatized that no other watermelon but that one would do. Finding another to take home was unthinkable.
Freeman felt the stares of strangers as she tried to calm her son, to no avail. “I get it…people will stare…but what bothered me is the fact that I could tell just by looking in their eyes, they were judging not only me as a parent, but my child as well. I saw the eye rolls. I heard the hurtful words. I heard the hurtful words someone said about my parenting,” she vented later that day on Facebook.
The episode still burns hot in her memory.
Just 18 months before the watermelon incident, Cale had been diagnosed with high-functioning autism.
Freeman, who lives in Greenfield, has since spent every day devoted to learning more about the condition, and helping her son navigate a world that doesn’t always understand him.
April is National Autism Awareness Month, a time in which advocates work especially hard to teach about the unique challenges and circumstances that make those with autism so special.
Autism is a hidden disability that’s not easy to see, said Cale’s mom.
“If somebody has a broken leg you see the cast, but you can’t see autism. You see a little boy who is throwing a fit, screaming, and you just think, ‘Oh my, that child,’” she said.
Freeman encourages people to keep that in mind whenever they see someone acting out in public.
“Keep in mind there could be something there at the root of the problem,” she said.
“Something could be going on that it’s not just a kid screaming. It could be a kid who doesn’t know how to express their emotions.”
Freeman said she and Cale’s dad, Caleb Freeman, who lives in New Palestine, credit the Lighthouse Autism Center in Greenfield for helping Cale live a fuller life, by learning a better way of navigating the world around him.
Now age 7, he attends therapy at the academy eight hours a day, five days a week.
Cale still has a speech delay, but it’s greatly improved since he’s started at the center.
“He is super focused and interested in planets, so they talk about planets. The (program) is essentially done through play and reward,” said his mom, who describes her son as a social butterfly, despite not making much eye contact.
“He’s developing his personality so much. You see it come out so much more with his communication. His behaviors (are not) interfering with his daily life,” she said.
Stevie Barr, the Lighthouse center’s family outreach coordinator for central Indiana, said organizations like hers work tirelessly to help families and kids with autism define their new normal.
Autism Awareness Month is a great time to shine the light on what autism is, and the resources available to help those with autism and their families, she said.
One in 54 children are diagnosed with autism in the United States, said Barr, which means there are a lot of families just like Cale’s who are searching for direction.
Like the Lighthouse center, other agencies like ACE Autism Center for Enrichment, Arc of Hancock County, Easterseals Crossroads and the Autism Society of Indiana exist to help them find their way.
“At the Lighthouse center, we are committed to celebrating those who may not look, act, or communicate the same as we do,” said Barr.
“It may take your child longer to master a milestone. They may have to learn a skill differently than a child that doesn’t have autism, but they can do it. They will learn,” said Barr, who said the center focuses on applied behavior analysis therapy, also known as behavioral engineering.
The center was founded more than 12 years ago by Gregg and Sandy Maggioli, parents of a child with autism, “who understand firsthand the struggles parents and caregivers experience when trying to find autism services for their child,” said Barr.
Lighthouse now has locations throughout Indiana and southwestern Michigan, serving more than 20 children at the Greenfield center on a yearly basis.
Freeman is thankful to have found help there in navigating her son’s autism diagnosis, and helping him to develop and blossom, despite his challenges.
She felt motivated to have Cale tested three years ago when he was 4, after noticing vast differences in development between him and his cousin, who is eight months older than him.
“She came to visit one time and you could carry on a conversation with her, but Cale wasn’t talking,” Freeman recalled “She would ask for a cup of milk, but Cale would just say ‘milk.’ So I shared my concerns with his doctor,” she said.
The doctor recommended speech therapy, so Cale started seeing a speech pathologist at J.B. Stephens Elementary, which has a development preschool. The school did testing indicating that Cale was on the autism spectrum, which led Freeman to reach out to Lighthouse Autism Center, previously known as Applied Behavior Therapy Services.
The center confirmed Cale’s autism diagnosis, and began working with him to learn new coping and communication skills. His parents have been amazed by the changes in him.
“Ever since he started going there his vocabulary has expanded. They really piqued his interest to learn,” said his mom.
The center serves as a mock school for Cale, helping him get used to a structured environment, with the hope of integrating him into a mainstream school by January.
When he does go to a mainstream school, a behavioral therapist from the center can go with him to help ease the transition.
Freeman said both she and Cale have developed a close bond with his current therapist, Rachel, who is patient with them both as they continue to navigate new challenges as Cale develops.
Understanding autism, especially as a parent, is a constant work in progress, said Freeman.
“I’m still constantly learning new things about it. I still myself struggle to really understand everything sometimes,” she said, but she’ll never stop trying.
She hopes those not affected by autism can learn to show patience and compassion, as she wished more people did that day her son dropped the watermelon on the floor.
“They don’t know or understand that my child has a different way of expressing his feelings, and that it’s something we are constantly working on. They don’t know I’m a single mom trying to constantly hold it together for us both,” Freeman shared on Facebook that day.
“People are different. Embrace it, accept it and be understanding,” she said.
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April is National Autism Awareness Month, a time when advocates work especially hard to shine the spotlight on autism and the resources available to individuals and families.
Following is a list of resources for more information:
RESOURCES
ACE Autism Center for Enrichment
190 W. Green Meadows Drive
Greenfield
317-436-7080
autismenrichment.com
Autism Society of Indiana
800 N. Meridian St. #103B
Indianapolis
800-609-8449
autismsocietyofindiana.org
Autism Speaks
888-AUTISM2 (888-288-4762)
autismspeaks.org
Easterseals Crossroads
4740 Kingsway Drive
Indianapolis
317-466-1000
eastersealscrossroads.org
Indiana Autism Alliance
3525 Lake Ave., Suite #10
Fort Wayne
260-210-2539
indianaautismalliance.org
Lighthouse Autism Center
1834 Fields Boulevard
Greenfield
317-222-1242
lighthouseautismcenter.com
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