Autistic child strengthens family bondsBY HOLLY RICHARDS
WHITE COTTAGE -- Brandon Corder excitedly runs up the front porch steps to get to the kitchen to enjoy an afterschool snack of soup, cookies and ice cream and talk about his day with his family.
Gathering around his siblings and parents, Corder laughs and jokes at the table, then unleashes his energy running around the backyard with them. He is a typical teenage boy in many ways but one -- he is autistic.
The 13-year-old officially was diagnosed at the age of 3.
One in 110 children in the United States is diagnosed with autism per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Being a parent to an autistic child comes with a host of trials, but no challenge is too big or too small for Pat Kleinhoffer, Brandon's legal guardian and the mother he's known all his life.
When presented with an obstacle, Kleinhoffer tackles it head-on with a positive attitude seeking positive results.
Kleinhoffer hadn't been married to her husband, Christopher, more than a few years when fate intervened. Pat's sister wasn't able to care for her children, so she and Christopher took them in as their own and have had legal custody for several years.
Living in the Kleinhoffer home in White Cottage are Pat and Christopher; Trisha Corder, 17; Amy Reed, 15; Brandon Corder, 13; Tommy Reed, 12; and more recently Pat's younger brother Charles Corder. The Kleinhoffers' eldest daughter, 19-year-old Vanessa Mettler, is attending college at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
Much of the attention and day-to-day activities revolve around Brandon because of his special needs, but everyone in the family has learned to adapt to the boy they love.
"He keeps you grounded and reminds you of the simple things that are important," Kleinhoffer said. "He holds us accountable. You have to be careful what you say and do because he's a mockingbird."
"He takes longer to do his homework and normal activities like brushing his teeth, so we have to help him out," Amy added. "It's like having a big toddler. I'd like to go into the police field, so having an autistic brother has taught me to be patient and to know what to expect if I have to deal with people with special needs."
As the other children in the family, it's been a challenge for Trisha, Amy and Tommy to adapt, but they've become stronger because Brandon is a part of their tightly knit family.
"I've learned to deal with it and I can tell when his breaking point is," Trisha said. "I try to calm him down by playing with him and getting him off the subject of being mad. I plan to go to college for massage therapy and art, but I want to stay close to home. This has brought us close together."
"It's been hard," added Tommy, who shares a room with Brandon. "You just have to try to keep him entertained and give him what he wants, but not too much of it. I've had to kind of step up and act like a bigger brother."
Brandon became part of the family when he was just a little more than a year old, and Kleinhoffer said she and her husband began to notice behavioral issues leading to autism.
"He was lethargic, and he did have some words like 'mom' and 'dad,' but then he reverted and stopped talking," she said. "My husband was reading an article about autism, and we noticed Brandon had nine out of the 10 traits mentioned."
Some of these included stemming and fascination with ceiling fans and lights, lining up toys instead of playing with them, hand flapping, screaming and not talking. In his early childhood, Brandon refused to speak unless provoked or angry.
Now if Brandon throws a random fit, his family will distract him with questions or objects, and other times his mother just rides it out.
"People who don't understand think he's an unruly child," Kleinhoffer said. "It's not rudeness, it's simplicity. He even has his own language that we call 'Braheli.'"
While various illnesses often accompany autism, Brandon has been a fairly healthy child except for some breathing problems and ear tube surgeries. He isn't restricted to a specific diet or being treated with any special therapies, but takes risperidone, the generic of risperdal, which is used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia, as prescribed by child psychiatrist Dr. Patricia Gainor at Genesis Bethesda.
"He has come a long way," Kleinhoffer said.
Meltdowns can happen if Brandon is overstimulated, but now he relishes being in large crowds like family gatherings and public events.
"In the beginning it was difficult for the family because we couldn't go out like to school plays," Kleinhoffer said. "He would panic and we'd have to leave, but he's gotten better and he likes big crowds. He's very social."
Brandon also is a smart child, but he learns a little differently than his peers.
"He's had weird obsessions like Matchbox cars, couches and tape measures," Kleinhoffer said. "But I got into his world. I used the cars to teach him colors and tape measure to teach him the ABCs. He learns more by doing. My husband has also worked with him tremendously."
As a seventh-grader enrolled in special needs classes at East Muskingum Middle School, Brandon also is thriving as a student.
"He does very well in school," Kleinhoffer said. "He's extremely intelligent and resourceful, and he reads on his own. We've only had to go get him once for misbehaving, but he's got good teachers who understand. He knows his boundaries well, and everyone's great at East Muskingum. The goal is not to educate him to be a genius, but for him to become a functioning adult. I want to protect him from being in an institution."
Brandon isn't the only one in the household with a disability. The younger Patricia was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome, having been blind in her left eye, deaf in her left ear and had some bodily paralysis. Kleinhoffer said now the 17-year-old has perfect vision and hearing but learns a bit slower. Kleinhoffer has also noticed her 30-year-old brother displaying some autistic behaviors.
The family also has had to deal with additional health issues that has tested them.
"I've had radiation and brain surgery," Kleihoffer said. "I have a pituitary tumor, my second one in 10 years, but it's not cancerous. I also have Cushing's disease. My husband has also been diagnosed with PTSD and is getting treatments. My medical conditions have taken their toll on everybody, and Brandon wanted me home. Everybody was edgier.
"It's also been financially rough," she continued. "It's hard dealing with Social Security and being denied. And I don't have a job, but I'm going to school. I'm a senior at OUZ going for special education studies. My goal is to use it, which I do every day at home."
It's been tough to delegate time for other avenues like the National Autism Association of Southeast Ohio, but Kleinhoffer said she'd like to further interact with this local organization. She also is friends with a few of her neighbors who also have autistic children, so they have formed their own tightly knit support group.
"If it wasn't for my faith, I wouldn't be able to do this," Kleinhoffer said. "A lot of parents are in denial. We live in a small, rural town, and people can't handle it (autism). Parents shouldn't give up; it's more public now with access to more resources."
Without Brandon or any of the other children, Kleinhoffer's family wouldn't be complete.
"It's made my kids stronger. They're very protective of him and don't like to see him picked on," she said. "It's also taught them patience. They have different last names, and they chose to keep their last names, but it doesn't change who they are. What I tell them and others about our family is God took seven broken hearts, put them all together and created one big, happy family. It's made us who we are, and how strong we are."
hrichards@nncogannett.com
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