On April 25th, 2009 we will be walking for the Autism Society of Nebraskas "Puzzle Walk" at Chalco Hills. The money raised from this walk will help local families here in Nebraska who have children with autism. We have a personal interst in this walk because our son Ethan has autism. If you are interested in sponsoring us for the walk you can click on: "Sponsor Me" . If you want to hear more about our son Ethans story you can read below. You may also forward this page to anyone you know that may be interested in sponsoring us for the Puzzle Walk by clicking on"Share this page". Thank you for your support.

                                            Michaela and Brent Newman and Family

In 2002 we gave birth to our second child Ethan. He was so beautiful and completely healthy. He continued to develope like any other child. Around 18 months I had concerns with his language developement so I talked to my pediatrician. They told me not to worry and that our older son is probably talking for him. They said if I was still concerned at 2 years of age to call. I couldn't wait any longer and called a few months later. We had Ethan evaluated by the school and he qualified for speech therapy. We did speech therapy for about 3 months, but something inside told me somthing is not right. That was around the time I saw the segment about autism on the Today show. When I voiced my concerns and asked about autism,  they said "no" he is to social and is making to much progress.  We continued to wait. Once again I couldnt take it, I called the school and had him evaluated by the psychologist. Sure enought he was diagnosis with autism. We had no idea what was to come.  When you get this type of diagnosis you go through a mourning of the child you will never know. You go through self blame, denial, guilt, any possible emotion the human body has. I just remember asking "Why" over and over. I think it was so hard because we knew so little about autism and had no clear answers.

As they say, hindsight is always 20/20. Back then all we knew is that Ethans language development seemed delayed .We did not realize that many of the things Ethan did were signs of autism. As we think back many of those things now make sense.  Ethan did not respond to his own name, we thought he was just ignoring us and had his hearing tested. He did not point, have reciprical play or joint attention. He didn't  pretend play and had very little eye contact. He loved to line up his cars and trains and spin the wheels over and over while holding them up to the corner of his eye. Ethan would be in a room full of toys and walk around like he had no idea how to play with them, he didnt'. These are all possible signs of autism.

Ethan is now in First grade. He is at a wonderful school and they work really hard with him. He has lots of words, but it is a daily struggle to get him to use those words. He is still echolalic (repeats what you say)with a lot of his language. Most of Ethans language is prompted and we are constantly working on getting him to use more spontaneous speech. He used PECS (pictures on cards to help him talk) to prompt him to use his words and tell us what he wants. As Ethan gets older his diability is becoming more aparent. You see the other children in his class progressing and you realize how many challenges Ethan really has. He is a happy little guys and is loved by everyone who meets  him. He loves to sing, play cars, trians, going outside and playing with his brothers and sister.

 Many people dont realize that the majority of insurance companies do not cover autism, ours is one of them. Your sponshorship will not only help Ethan, but other local families who have children with autism who stuggle to find the funds for greatly needed therapies such as:  PT,OT, speech and behavioral therapy. Early intervention is key with autism. These families need as much support as they can get.

We want so much for Ethans future and worry every day for what the future holds, but we will continue to fight for him each and every day and we hope you will too. We want to thank everyone for their prayers, support and understanding during this journey.

 Thank you for visiting my fundraising page!

                                                                              The  Newman Family