The expertise Christian’s family benefitted from is poised to help more families like his through ECU Physicians’ multidisciplinary Family Autism Center in Winterville.
According to Reichel, the center’s director, their goal is “to help parents and professionals in our region navigate the complex systems of diagnosis, the behavioral and educational care, and social and community supports available for families dealing with autism spectrum disorder.”
Autism spectrum disorder refers to a group of developmental disabilities that affect how a person understands what they see, hear or sense, according to information published by the Autism Society of North Carolina. People with ASD typically have difficulty understanding verbal and nonverbal communication and learning appropriate ways of behaving and interacting socially.
ASD affects individuals differently and with varying degrees of severity, Reichel said.
“The cliché we like to use is, ‘if you’ve seen one child with autism, you’ve seen one child with autism,’” he said.