Inspire, Summer 2003

Inspire 21 “We never knew why Brian was born the way he was; we just knew this was what God had decreed. This was what brought Him glory and who were we to question if God knew what He was doing?” Karen said. Karen feels it was a blessing to have a sibling like Brian. She shared, “In the months following his death I felt a hole in my life from not having a special needs person in my life. I would never trade Brian for any other brother, nor have Brian any other way than how God made him.” Brian never attended college, but Karen’s other siblings — Marla Fuller Anderson ’87, Dennis Fuller ’91, and Jill Fuller Larson ’95 — are also Cedarville alums. In August 1997 — seven months after Brian passed away — Karen gave birth to her first child. It wasn’t long before Karen realized that her son, Will, was different from his peers. Her initial clues started with a visit with her Cedarville roommate and dear friend, Dana Filer Ward ’92. As Karen and Dana watched their children playing together, Dana observed Will’s differences. “She noticed Will did not understand any verbal commands unless I used gestures and repeated the command over and over,” Karen recalled. “He also didn’t say more than one or two words at a time. He didn’t know how to play with toys unless I showed him. He didn’t seem to notice others when he played, and he considered them a bother if they came close to him. He also made no eye contact with other children.” Additionally, Will’s gross motor skills were choppy and weak, and he screamed when anyone touched his head. Karen had long noticed Will’s peculiar ways but figured it was a combination of his personality and her being a novice at parenting. Dana lovingly expressed her concerns about the things she saw in Will. Karen was relieved that someone else was seeing things that she had been observing. “Dana has a master’s degree in social work, so we decided to look through her books to see if we could find a term to define what we were seeing,” noted Karen. “Autism seemed to fit Will’s behavior, but so did a few other conditions.” Karen contacted Will’s pediatrician. After a series of tests and evaluations by a variety of specialists, in March 2001 it was determined that Will was indeed autistic. Autism manifests itself through a variety of behaviors and reactions. Autistics often exhibit sensory extremes. “Will hears sounds amplified, so at church during the singing he sometimes holds his hands over his ears and starts crying because it hurts. Sometimes he tries to sing along, but he sings as loudly as he hears others singing, so he is actually shouting out the words,” Karen explained. “At first my husband tried to