Reading the signs

May 6 fundraiser at Mandalay Bay to aid autistic kids

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Lisa Antram thought nothing was wrong with her son Gregory when a teacher told her she was concerned about his behavior at school.

Gregory, age 4 at the time, rarely made eye contact, did not play with other children, and was an accelerated math student. Those characteristics never bothered Antram.

"I never thought of them as symptoms of anything," Antram said. "They were what made him unique. They were what got me into physics as a major."

Gregory could read at age 3 and would often hum music. Antram was very much like that as a child.

"I think a lot of teachers think that when a parent says, 'There's nothing wrong with my child,' that they're in denial," Antram said. "And the truth is that perhaps for that family, that's perfectly normal."

As the Antram family went through the process of getting Gregory diagnosed with high functioning autism, Antram discovered she also had it. The neurological disorder impacts a person's ability to communicate, understand language and relate to others.

April is Autism Awareness Month, and local advocates, including parents of children like Gregory, said they want to get the word out about diagnosing the condition and helping children meet their full potential.

There are 1.5 million people with autism in the United States, about 450,000 of whom are children, according to the Autism Education Network.

Diagnosing and serving children with autism and other neurogenetic disorders is the goal at the Lili Claire Foundation, a nonprofit organization which has a Family Resource Center at 522 E. Twain Ave. in Las Vegas.

Organizers are hoping a large fundraising concert at 9 p.m. on May 6 at Mandalay Bay will help raise awareness, as well as money for children with autism and similar conditions in the Las Vegas area.

The concert will feature performances by Lifehouse, Vanessa Carlton and Everclear. The benefit dinner, at 6:30 p.m., and auction at 5 p.m., also on May 6, will be hosted by actor Jason Alexander of "Seinfeld" fame.

The Lili Claire Foundation's Family Resource Center will start offering a comprehensive autism diagnostic clinic on May 9.

Parents will be able to have their children screened for autism, regardless of their ability to pay.

Dr. Johanna Fricke, a specialist in behavioral developmental pediatrics, and Dr. Julie Beasley, a child neuropsychologist, will offer their services during the clinics.

Lili Claire already offers medical genetics clinics, behavioral development clinics, advocacy services and an information library. All services are free.

The Family Resource Center has been open for about a year and program director Jennifer Bradley hopes to be able to expand the facility soon to offer respite care.

She and other Lili Claire staffers said they want to make sure parents have the support and knowledge they need to get a proper diagnosis and be able to handle the situation.

But Lili Claire cannot handle all the local needs. Barbie Lauver, who had stopped by the Lili Claire center to help prepare invitations to the May 6 concert on a recent morning, is on a waiting list for treatments from Lili Claire doctors. Meanwhile, she gets support in many other ways.

Lauver said she felt deserted when a doctor told her four years ago that her son John Matthew had Asperger syndrome, essentially high-functioning autism. At first, she did not even believe there was anything different about him.

"I thought if he was born normal, he was going to be normal. I just thought he was shy, but the doctor saw something in him," Lauver said.

Once she knew for sure he had Asperger syndrome, she called everyone she could think of, researched online and could not find anyone to offer support locally.

She finally found a doctor who could give her information, and who introduced her to other experts. In a waiting room for one of the experts, she met another mother of a child with Asperger syndrome.

After swapping stories about how hard it was to find information, the two formed the Asperger Syndrome Support Group for the Las Vegas area, which now has about 200 members.

Lauver said the group helps her deal with the ups and downs of being a parent of a child with Asperger syndrome. Still, Lauver said she would not trade John Matthew for anything.

"What makes him different makes him special," she said.

Antram said she knows what Lauver means. She said teachers still worry about her son Gregory's manner of expressing himself sometimes. She said his drawings are not what they expect from a 7-year-old.

"She would ask them to do a Halloween drawing and all the other kids would draw pumpkins or little ghosts with smiles," Antram said. "Gregory would draw exactly what he saw on television the night before, which was his older brother's scary program."

But since both have autism, Antram said there is a level of understanding between her and her son.

As the two sat together in a room one recent morning, both were aware of the sound of ringing cell phones and even the dull buzz of fluorescent lights. Both are sensitive to sound.

As someone with high-functioning autism, Gregory can talk and can control behaviors related to autism.

He used to spin around and hum to the music in his head all the time. Unlike children with more severe autism, Gregory can and will stop those behaviors if he is told.

Antram said she has an affinity and empathy for everyone who has autism, even the individuals who do not have high-functioning autism but have a difficult time communicating. She said she always knows what they're trying to say.

She said her interpretive power drives people crazy, especially the people she calls "the NTs," or "neurotypicals," who don't understand the autistic mind.

The Antrams have a way of addressing Gregory's differences so that he does not feel alienated.

"Our favorite saying in our family is, 'Normal is highly overrated,' " Antram said.

Because of misconceptions, some parents treat a diagnosis of autism as something akin to a death sentence, Antram explained.

"You hear horror stories about parents crying, denying it, or thinking their child will be institutionalized," she said.

But autistic children are intelligent, Antram said, and they have enormous potential.

"I told my husband, 'We're looking at raising Einstein or Bill Gates here,' " she said.

Families for Effective Autism Treatment is another resource for parents who have autistic children or who think their children may be autistic. For more information, call 368-3328.

For more information on the Asperger Syndrome Support Group, e-mail aspergerhfagrp@aol.com.

Tickets for the Lili Claire concert start at $33. Individual tickets for the Lili Claire benefit dinner and auction start at $300. For more information, call 862-8141, or visit www.liliclairefoundation.org.