Picnic planned for families with autistic children

GLENDALE ? Parents with autistic children can enjoy an opportunity to spend quality time with them in a safe and sympathetic environment at the Foothill Autism Alliance’s annual Spring Picnic and Fun Festival on Saturday.

More than 150 people, including siblings and family friends, are expected to attend the afternoon event at Lower Scholl Canyon Park, which organizers chose because of its small size and seclusion, said alliance president Yudi Bennett.

The spring picnic, now in its eighth year, offers families in Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, La Crescenta and La Cañada Flintridge some welcome respite from the difficulties of caring for their autistic children, who often find it difficult to socialize in schools and the wider community, Bennett said.

“One thing that I did find as the parent of an autistic child was that our friends slowly fell away,” Bennett said. “Not because they are mean people, but because we became too high maintenance. We couldn’t really go out as a family because there weren’t any places where we felt comfortable and where our son felt comfortable, too.”

Bennett’s 11-year-old son, Noah Schneider, was diagnosed with autism when he was 3, after his parents noticed that he had stopped talking. At just more than 2-years-old, Noah could speak 30 words but when he turned 3 he suddenly couldn’t speak anymore, Bennett said. After some intensive therapy, he regained some of his verbal ability.

“Noah’s language has developed but when he tried to speak to kids at school, they didn’t understand him,” she said. “His syntax was incorrect and his pronouns were reversed. He spoke English like it was a foreign language; this makes it very frustrating and isolating for him. It’s difficult for him to make friends and develop his social skills.”

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the brain and the brain’s chemistry, but manifests itself in different ways for different children, Bennett said. For most autistic children, it affects their ability to communicate and to socialize but it is not a mental illness, a behavioral problem or an indication of intelligence, she said.

Bennett and other parents and health professionals formed the nonprofit Foothill Autism Alliance in 1998 after realizing that most parents were struggling to cope on their own. It now has 200 members and provides educational resources and emotional support for families, Bennett said.

Sandy Price, from La Crescenta, joined the alliance in 2000 when her 2-year-old son Mason was diagnosed with autism. She realized something was wrong when he wasn’t talking like other children his age, and nearly six years later he continues to struggle to communicate, she said.

“When you are going through this, you feel so isolated,” Price said. “You feel like no one understands what you’re going through and when you find someone who does, it’s a psychological relief.

“We have very few opportunities to go out as a family but at least at the picnic we know that no one will blink if Mason starts to scream or gets upset if he has to hold a stick a certain way. No one’s going to give me dirty looks or point at Mason and stare.”

John Schock, from La Cañada Flintridge, was devastated to find out that his adopted daughter Ginger had autism at 5-years-old. She is now 14 and Schock treasures the friendships and network of support he has gained from the alliance.

“We need as many friends and contacts as we can get,” Schock said. “I’ve gotten a lot of support from other parents at the alliance and I’ve become good friends with many of them.”

The picnic will include a barbecue, games, face-painting, a juggler, stilt walkers and “Star Wars” characters.