Variety The Children’s Charity helps autistic child

VANCOUVER -- When Anna Kouhpayeh describes her life attempting to cope with her son Omid’s autism she is describing a nightmare.

Diagnosed with severe autism at the age of two, Omid had neurological and sensory disorders that by the age of seven — he is now 11 — had brought his mother to the edge of collapse.

He needed 24-hour supervision, was afraid of noises, suffered from high anxiety, was afraid to go out in public, wouldn’t wear clothes, would defecate where and whenever, was non-verbal, couldn’t follow direction, wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t eat sitting down but ran around with food in his mouth risking choking, walked on his toes, had tantrums and screaming fits that went on for hours.

The list goes on and is stupefying.

“Everyday I would take him to school when he was five and I’d just sit outside in the car and wait,” said Kouhpayeh.

It would usually take just half an hour before she was summoned to come back in and remove him.

“Once they were about to call 911 because he was on the floor screaming so much that they thought he needed medical help,” she said.

It was a life spent weeping.

“He was my first child. I didn’t know what to do with him. I couldn’t speak to him. It was like talking to the wall,” she said.

Kouhpayeh was left with home-schooling as the public system was unable to handle Omid.

For two years she tried but it was beyond her powers to help him and his need for constant attention had prevented her from working and reduced her to despair.

An online search for help led her to PALS Autism School Society at 2409 East Pender that uses applied behaviour analysis to help autistic children learn but as she wasn’t working she couldn’t afford the fees.

That would have been that but she applied to Variety The Children’s Charity for help and in 2010, when he was seven, Omid entered PALS as the result a $1,500 Variety grant which has been renewed each year.

And the result?

A miracle, said his mother.

“It’s been amazing. Without this school I don’t think I could have lasted. It saved my life, saved us both,” she said.

“Omid can now follow direction and he’s listening. He’s still non-verbal but he uses signs to communicate. Now he’s like a normal person. When you see him you wouldn’t recognize that he’s got autism.

“He goes to school, keeps his clothes on, goes to the bathroom, and he loves music. Before I had no life and he had no life.

“I am just so grateful for what Variety has done for us. He is at school now so I can work full-time and support my family a little bit,” said Kouhpayeh who works as an interior designer.

As an indication of how far Omid has come in four years, he was able to join his class at Playland last year — perhaps the noisiest most visually stimulating environment available — where he was able to enjoy the rides and have fun like other children.

“Omid is learning so much. He might even become a little bit independent,” said his mother.

In addition to helping the family with yearly fees, Variety The Children’s Charity also supports PALS summer program and summer camp which Omid has also attended.

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