L.I.F.E. center helps Valley mom with autistic son

GILBERT, AZ - Autism seems to be getting much more attention recently as more cases are diagnosed in young children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 1 in 110 children have an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The majority of those cases are boys.

Health care providers have classified the social, communication and behavioral changes as a spectrum disorder, meaning the disorder can range from mild to severe, across a broad spectrum.

Prather Harrell is a Valley mother of four boys -- two of them are diagnosed with ASD’s. Julien is 7 years old and Jonah is 6. She says even though the two both fall under the autism spectrum, the two situations were very different.

She says Julien was a fussy baby and had some sensory issues, but when Jonah came along, he cried 80 percent of the time. She also says Jonah had a lot of gastrointestinal issues, wasn’t talking by the age of 2, had an extremely limited diet and was hypersensitive to light and sound.

Harrell says the tantrums were the hardest thing to deal with. She said Jonah would cry and scream at the top of his lungs at least five to 10 times a day.

Harrell says after seeing a doctor and getting the autism diagnosis confirmed, she needed additional help. That’s where Lauren’s Institute for Education came in. L.I.F.E. is a one-of-a-kind center in Gilbert that focuses on helping developmentally disabled children through a variety of therapies like speech, music and occupational.

Harrell says the treatment Jonah received at L.I.F.E. helped him to be able to communicate better with her and the rest of the family. She says she almost didn’t recognize him when she brought him home.

There is an event Saturday to raise money for the institute. Nine students from L.I.F.E. will be performing Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” on stage. The performance is at 1 p.m. at Hamilton High School in Chandler. Donations are accepted at the door.

For more information, visit L.I.F.E.’s website.