The state's largest non-profit, which helps children who have autism or mental retardation, wants to shorten its waiting list by expanding. Experts say Minneapolis-based Fraser offers some of the most comprehensive programs in the country for children with mental disabilities, but waits of a year to get Fraser services are common. The organization is raising money to build a center officials say will shorten the delays.
Fraser Center, a school for young and old who have cognitive disabilities, got its start 66 years ago. The founder, the late Louise Whitbeck Fraser, started a home school for her daughter because she didn't want to send her to an institution. Other parents with children who were retarded, flocked to Fraser's south Minneapolis house seeking help.
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AJ PARON-WILDES: He's got a microphone. Can you say hi?
DEVIN WILDES: Hi. I did this at movies!
DAN OLSON: A stranger with a microphone does not deter five-year-old Devin from speaking his mind.
AJ PARON-WILDES: Devin, listen, can you spell your name?
DEVIN WILDES: D-
AJ PARON-WILDES: D-
DEVIN WILDES: D-E-V-I-N.
DAN OLSON: Coaching from the sidelines is Devin's mom, AJ Paron-Wildes. Devin was diagnosed with autism at an early age. He lost most of his language. Paron-Wildes remembers her reaction when told the wait for help through Fraser was 11 months.
AJ PARON-WILDES: Oh, my gosh, what am I going to do? I could not place him in a typical daycare. No daycare provider would take a child like him.
DAN OLSON: Devin and many other children with autism throw tantrums when events don't fit a pattern.
AJ PARON-WILDES: You put the wrong sock on the wrong way, he'd freak out.
DAN OLSON: Troy Orth says his son Mitchell was typical until 18 months of age. Then, Orth says, he went into a shell and quit expressing emotion except anger when anything didn't fit his expectations like a ride in a car that didn't fit a pattern.
TROY ORTH: If you turned right instead of left at the first intersection, you might lose him for hours as far as temper tantrums and the like.
DAN OLSON: Medical experts say the cause of autism is still a mystery. But if diagnosed early, many children get better with intensive therapy. Paron-Wildes says they went to several doctors who didn't find a reason for Devin's loss of language and his tantrums until one told them to test for autism. With the diagnosis and a label in hand, families can apply for help, but the wait is long, up to a year. Paron-Wildes says neither she nor her husband could afford to quit their job to be at home with Devin. They borrowed $15,000 to hire help while on a waiting list for services.
AJ PARON-WILDES: I had to hire a full time personal care assistant.
DAN OLSON: 2,500 children and adults, many with neurological disorders, get help at Minneapolis-based Fraser. Children with autism work one on one with therapists five days a week up to four hours a day. They get physical, speech, occupational, and music therapy.
ROBERTA KAGAN: As ready. Ready, go!
DAN OLSON: Augsburg college music therapy professor Roberta Kagan sends her students to Fraser to get practical experience with children. Kagan says therapy helps youngsters reconnect with language and social skills. She says the children with autism who get help early stand a better chance of coping in school. Youngsters who have to wait until entering school to get help, Kagan says, can have more problems.
ROBERTA KAGAN: What happens then when they get to kindergarten, we try to teach them and then they flunk sandbox. And so the parents are very upset because the child is not at the developmental level. What Fraser is doing so beautifully is reaching out to these infants and starting in the developmental stages.
ROBERTA KAGAN: (SINGING) We're all feeling sad.
DAN OLSON: Fraser's director, Diane Cross, says the number of children and adults with autism and mental retardation who need help is outpacing the availability of services. Adults who got help from Fraser as children are on the waiting list for places to live in Fraser-owned homes and apartments. Cross says the number of children needing help is growing because of the higher survival rate of infants.
DIANE CROSS: Medical technology is saving more and more children. So what's happening is these children are growing up, they're more and more needy. Also, we're not sure what is going on in our environment, but we're seeing an increase in incidence in autism.
DAN OLSON: Fraser got its start 66 years ago. The founder, the late Louise Whitbeck Fraser, a teacher, started a home school for her daughter because she didn't want to send her to an institution. Other parents with children who were retarded flocked to Fraser's South Minneapolis house seeking help. Wes Fraser remembers his mother seeking help from welfare and education officials and being turned down.
WES FRASER: She was told by a woman there that what she was doing was no better than teaching tricks to animals, if you can imagine such a thing.
DAN OLSON: Parents of children with neurological disorders are less likely to encounter the attitudes that Louise Whitbeck Fraser heard 66 years ago, but the obstacles are still formidable. Insurance companies routinely refuse to pay for therapy. Mental health experts point out a dozen other states do more than Minnesota to help families cover treatment costs.
This session, Minnesota lawmakers are considering a provision which would help parents recover some of the costs for home-based treatment. Fraser officials are pointing to their 66-year-long track record as they seek donations for construction this spring of a new facility. Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio.