Autism Seminar A 'Labor Of Love'

After Diagnosis, What Next? Couple Strives to Help.

Randy and Lynn Gaston knew that life would be topsy-turvy with triplets, but as the boys turned 2, there were disturbing signs that all was not well. The boys seemed to lag in their speech. They played separately. They had uncontrollable tantrums at family gatherings.

Lynn Gaston turned to the Internet for research, and she and her husband kept quizzing their pediatrician.

"We started piecing this together," Randy Gaston said.

When the diagnosis was made two years ago that all three boys had autism, a developmental disorder, the Gastons began a race to find the right therapies. Autism, which has no cure and is poorly understood, interferes with a person's ability to communicate and to process information. However, experts generally agree that early and intensive treatment can counter some of the symptoms.

"You feel like you're under the gun the minute they're diagnosed," the father said. "You feel like you only have so much time to get it done."

The couple, who moved to Ellicott City from Anne Arundel County last year, continue with at-home services for their boys, now 5, while they meet with school officials to develop individualized instruction plans.

But they also have embarked on what Randy Gaston calls "a labor of love," organizing a daylong seminar April 14 with autism experts. The ticketed event, called Autism Expo, will be held at Howard Community College from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is expected to draw several hundred parents, educators and professionals in the field.

The Gastons especially wanted to reach out to parents whose children have just been diagnosed as autistic and who aren't sure what to do next.

Kathy Niager, director of a Baltimore County group that provides in-home services to autistic children, said parents often are told upon diagnosis, "You've got to get treatment."

"How do you know everything you need to know? That's a lot of pressure for a parent," she said.

In recent years, Howard County has become a locus for families with autistic children, drawn in part by the county's reputation for high-quality schools. One in every 111 children in Howard has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, the highest rate among Maryland counties, said Kim Manning, executive director of the Howard County Autism Society. A new federal survey found that one in every 150 children in the United States has autism or a closely related disorder.

The 15-year-old autism society has worked with the Howard school system to develop and expand programs for autistic preschoolers and is studying best practices for autistic children in elementary grades.