PUZZLES & CAMO 

SHELLY HUHTANEN

He's Got a Job

In the last few months, we've seen a change in Broden. He's happier. He's initiating social interaction to communicate his needs in a way we have never seen before.

Years ago, I remember sitting in an office of an ABA clinic where my son used to be a client. Broden was not himself. I felt like we were losing him. After digging around and asking questions, I soon realized that he had so many programs that inhibited him from self-regulating, he had completely shut down. It was as if he didn't know how to live in his body. After questioning the therapists' vision on what they wanted to focus on with our son, one therapist turned to me and said, "Well Shelly, he has classic autism. He's not responding to the programs the way we'd like him to at this point." After leaving the office, in so many words, it was communicated that Broden wasn't going to amount to much due to his level of severity so they were still going to focus on preschool level skills and not consider looking outside the box on what he could do.

Mark and I eventually pulled him from that clinic. For the first time since Broden was diagnosed at 26 months old, Broden did not have any services and there wasn't a plan on what to do next. All I knew then was that the clinic he was attending at that attending at that time did not deserve him. Fortunately, weeks later, we were able to find a better fit and we started to see our Broden slowly come back to us. He was with staff that saw his potential, and later, I realized that Broden was self-aware. He knew when he was working with people who saw him for who he was and accepted him, as opposed to staff who were not only teaching him, but who were trying to change his core being of who he was as a person. I finally connected the dots last week when visiting the clinic where he is currently receiving services. During my parent's visit, we went on a tour of the facility to see the new changes that were taking place. I had been on a tour a few weeks prior and I assumed that it would be specifically for my parents, but I realized that although I had been there before, I still learned something new. I learned that Broden had a job.

COPY THAT: "If I told anyone that my 15-year-old son was the designated 'copier' for a clinic, there would be little fanfare, but the point is that the staff that works with my son saw his worth. They gave him a job to do each day, a task to complete that contributed to the overall mission of the clinic."

During the tour, I pulled my parents over to the copier and told them that Broden had learned how to make copies. The staffer who was conducting the tour motioned for us to come into a room that contained administrative items. There were several small shelves with slots to slide documents into for staffers. Our tour guide patted her hand to the bottom right slot and said, "This is Broden's job. A couple times a day, Broden will come in here and check to see if there is anything that needs to be copied. If so, he makes the copies and puts them in the appropriate slot."

With my mask on my face, our guide could not see my bottom jaw drop in amazement. If I told anyone on the street that my 15-year-old son was the designated "copier" for a clinic, there would be little fanfare, but that's not the point. The point is that the staff that works with my son saw his worth. They gave him a job to do each day, a task to complete that contributed to the overall mission of the clinic.

In the last few months, we've seen a change in Broden. He's happier. He's initiating social interaction to communicate his needs in a way we have never seen before. Last Sunday, I was laying down for a short nap since I had an early morning. I was woken up by someone poking my shoulder. It was Broden, "Hamburger? French fries?" I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 4 pm, "Dinner is going to be round 5:30 pm. Do you want some popcorn?" Broden started to walk away, but turned around and answered, "No." I countered with the idea of him having a bowl of chips. He stuck his head back in the room and declined my offer. Once I knew he was in his room, I yelled out, "How about some gummies?" Broden walked out of his room and into the hallway, "Gummies!" Instead of me jumping out of bed and tending to his request, I told him to go downstairs in the pantry and get some gummies for a snack to hold him over for dinner. Soon after, I heard his feet skip down the stairs and Broden tell Mark what he wanted for his snack. I laid on my back in bed for a moment to process what had happened. Broden and I had just had a conversation about him being hungry before dinner. I laid there for a few minutes to take it in and to enjoy the feeling of connection to my son.

When I look back and remember the challenges with autism, I appreciate the triumphs even more. Working with a team that sees Broden for who he is and working with us to envision his productive future matters. When describing our son, the term "classic autism" does not come to mind. Broden is a teenager that loves music and goes for walks with friends. Our son is still continuously learning new things every day and who now has a job. He's come so far and he's not done yet. Not even close. •

PUZZLES & CAMO

Shelly Huhtanen is an Army wife stationed at Fort Benning, GA who has a child with autism. She enjoys sharing her experiences of day-to-day life caring for her son with autism while serving as an Army spouse. She authored "Giving a Voice to the Silent Many" that encompasses many stories of raising a child with autism in the military. Shelly is passionate about autism advocacy for our military and works to bring awareness to our local legislators and command about providing better support for our military autism community, such as better health care and education.