Craig Brown, 4, hugs his mother, Cari Brown, during a session with therapist Rachel Duval at Trumpet Behavioral Health Friday in Fort Collins. Craig, who was diagnosed with autism, has been attending the center for more than a year. Cari says the changes she has seen in her sons behavior and social skills have been extensive.(Photo: Erin Hull/The Coloradoan)
Cari Brown knows her family is luckier than most that have a child on the autism spectrum.
Her 4-year-old son, Craig, was diagnosed early. While living in Utah, they literally won the lottery in having him selected for an intense therapy program. Seeing the night-and-day results prompted them to move to Fort Collins to take advantage of state insurance laws that mandate some level of coverage for autism treatments.
But not everyone has those opportunities, Brown realized, prompting her crusade to fix state law and remove the cap on how much treatment a child can receive. She calls it a moral obligation to help other families.
State Sen. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, raised her mantle and aims to carry a bill to that effect in the Legislature this year.
Craig started treatment just before his third birthday. Its progressed well enough that he could be done with his behavioral therapy sessions by the time hes 5, finishing with a great chance of independence, his mother said. He can now do simple things that most parents take for granted.
Trips to Ikea, Craigs favorite store, no longer erupt into tantrums when the elevator routine is mildly disrupted; he plays with toys instead taking them out and putting them back monotonously. When he first pointed at an animal in the zoo, Brown said she burst into tears of joy.
Now he loves playing with kids, she said. Before, it was like kids werent even in the room.
Ken Winn, chief clinical officer at Firefly Autism in Denver, said the difference in results between children who are diagnosed early and receive the behavioral therapy they need and those who dont is drastic. Those, like Craig, who are diagnosed and begin treatment by the time they are 3 years old have a 90 percent chance of recovery, he said.
But three barriers are usual suspects for that happening.