Saturday, May 14, 2011

Autism and Family Life: A Delicate Balance


AVON PARK, Fla. - Boat captain Rick Buell pilots yachts and boats to the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale, and his wife, Nanette, is a flight attendant for American Airlines, but they have temporarily relocated to Avon Park where their 7-year-old son, Blake, is receiving treatment for his behavioral problems and autism.
Behavior outbursts in his elementary school led to Blake being suspended for a total of 20 days in kindergarten and first-grade, Rick Buell said.
Before receiving therapy, Blake's excitement would start to build, prompting someone to try to help by touching or grabbing him, Buell said. That intervention would cause Blake to blow up.
He would go underneath tables kicking and throwing books in class, and as he got older, his behavioral outbursts became more intense, but the school system was doing very little therapy and doing little to try to determine what was wrong with their son, he said.
In front of Blake's school in Fort Lauderdale, Rick and Blake ran into a special education advocate who recommended forensic psychologist Susan L. Crum, who has a practice in Avon Park.

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