Army of angels helps autistic teen

LIVING WITH AUTISM- Lauren Haukoos, a 13-year-old triplet from Agoura, began intensive behavioral intervention before she turned 3 years old.

When Lauren Haukoos turned 13, her family threw a birthday bash. Although the party had the requisite birthday cake and candles, it was no typical birthday party.

Lauren has autism. The party not only celebrated her coming of age, it doubled as a tribute to the dozens of people who have helped the girl begin to overcome the challenges she faces.

Guests included people who worked with the Agoura girl when she was a 3yearold blank canvas, an unresponsive mystery who screamed in misery through hours of treatment while her brothers cringed. These were the people who, with incalculable patience (sometimes interrupted by their own tears) drilled Lauren in discrete trial therapy, asking her simple questions over and over while praying for an appropriate response- or any response for that matter.

Other party guests had worked with Lauren more recently, as she began to crawl out of her shell with single word responses and a budding sense of humor. These brave souls ventured into the community with Lauren when she was unpredictable at best, while her mother waited anxiously at home, wondering whether the phone would ring with news of a crisis.

Also among the guests were Lauren's current therapists, those who are grabbing hold of the baton while Lauren blossoms into a young lady with increased verbal communication and decreased "behaviors," the sanitized term used for the socially unacceptable antics that often accompany autism- tantrums, running away and screaming.

But after years of intensive intervention, Lauren doesn't do much of that any more. Today when she ventures out it is to learn positive skills such as reading traffic signals, making purchases at the store and interacting with others.

The whole team was represented at this birthday celebration. About 40 of the dozens of people who have worked with Lauren were invited. Helping this child along has been like piecing together a beautiful puzzle- one painstaking piece at a time.

Guests at the party could record messages on Lauren's birthday video. Many spoke to Lauren on camera of how she had taught her teachers great lessons and helped them grow up. They spoke in the presumption that she would understand. As it stands today, no one knows how much she is truly capable of understanding. The only certainty is that she is miles ahead of where anyone thought she could be, and so her future is anyone's guess.

There was also a tribute book filled to the brim with photos of Lauren at work with her many therapists over the years. There are images of a toddler with blond pigtails smiling as she receives tickles from her speech therapist for appropriate responses. There are images of a strapping young man shadowing her in preschool and the angels who served as her aides at Lupin Hill Elementary School.

More recent photos show the budding adolescent on hikes in Malibu Canyon, sailing in Santa Monica Bay, bowling and ice skating. There are no photos of Lauren's rougher moments, of which there have been many, such as the times when she refused to leave the Disney store or crashed a stranger's birthday party to use the moon bounce. But there are many pictures of the family that loves her very much, even as they each would admit that living with autism- living with Lauren- has taken a heavy toll.

But on this special day, that family celebrated the victories, not the challenges, as Lauren danced around her party in a lovely prom dress, planting light kisses on cheeks, then scampering back to her TV room to avoid the party's overstimulation.

The statistics for autism are increasingly grim. One in 150 children today is diagnosed with the brain disorder that affects social and communication skills. To date, no one knows why the condition occurs. The ramifications of that steadily growing number are staggering. Though the media talk about the boom in autistic children, they seldom mention that autistic children are growing up to be autistic adults- adults who require varying levels of support just to get by.

The burgeoning number of autism diagnoses is already taking its toll on schools and social services. As the numbers continue to rise, society will be required to bear the increased and unimaginable burden, a compelling reason to support research that attempts to understand the causes of this epidemic.

Because April is Autism Awareness Month, the media has been flooded with stories about autism- on "Oprah," "Larry King," "The View." But when April passes and the spotlight moves on to other issues, the rising numbers of autistic people, their families and their teams will still be here, quietly working day to day and making baby steps toward a better life.

For Lauren Haukoos, it has taken a host of helpers to get her started on her way- an army, really, an army of angels.

Some of her friends, under the team name "Lauren's League," will be raising money for Cure Autism Now (CAN) at the WALK NOW event on Sat., April 28 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. For more information, visit www.walknow.org.

- - Leslie Gregory Haukoos

Haukoos, a copy editor for the Acorn newspapers, waited six years to hear her daughter Lauren say the word "mom."