Overcoming the Challenges of Autism

Jovon Dean
Jovon Dean

Overcoming the Challenges of Autism

By Christopher Shuttlesworth

“Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by

unique strengths and differences. Autism’s most-obvious signs tend to appear between 2 and 3 years of age. In some cases, it can be

diagnosed as early as 18 months,” according to autismspeaks.org.

Jamica Harper, a former intern of Autism Speaks, said her parents noticed signs of autism in their son, Jovon Dean, at the age

of three and half-years-old, but says it took time for them to come to grips with the reality of the matter.

“My parents were in denial,” Harper said. “They didn’t want to go and get the treatments because they said ‘there’s nothing wrong...it turns out that it wasn’t like that,” she said.

Harper explained that Dean’s day-to-day routines would include little activity to none because of his inability to express himself correctly, resulting in him acting out. This led to his parents seeking out a therapist.

“Once he got the therapy, you did start to see a change,” she said. “But you saw a bigger change once Dean was placed into school around peers who were autistic as well.”

Harper said as Dean got older, his routine became very dear to him and says he would only have issues or breakdowns if a chair was not in place or if he was asked to sit on the floor.

When he got older in 7th grade and was around kids who didn’t suffer from the disorder, Harper said, they would ask him things like, “Why aren’t you functioning this way? Why aren’t you talking this way? Why can’t you read yet or tie your shoes?’”

She said these questions forced the parents to tell Dean who was 12-years-old at the time, that he had autism. “I don’t want to

be autistic,” were the words Dean spoke, said Harper. “When I’m autistic, people make fun of me or I’m slow and it’s hard and no one wants to help me because I’m autistic,” she recalled him saying.

Harper said Dean went into a shell for a while, but grew out of it once the family found an African American community that supports

and coaches autistic children, which helped the entire family adjust to now 13-year-old Dean’s condition.

Now that the family has found support, things have gotten easier. “You want to know why and how does this [disorder] trigger and why isn’t it prevalent in our community as it is in another community,” Harper questioned?

But one develops “patience,” she said. More

“understanding, she added. And “you become

less judgmental.”

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