May 5, 2008

Despite autism, family has optimism

BY ROY MITCHELL

Donna Richards doesn't know her blood type, but every drop of it must be positive. Optimism saturates her like the sweetness in grandma's tea. Yet when her child, Justin, was three years old, her positive outlook might have turned sour.

The daycare the Richards used believed Justin, Donna's youngest of five boys, should be tested for autism. Autism is a mental disorder in part characterized by impaired social relations and repetitive behaviors. Justi's test came back positive, and according to the medical staff that diagnosed him he would endure life-long limitations. Justin, they said, would have an IQ below 30, would never speak, and would most likely be institutionalized.

Despite facing such a daunting diagnosis about their own child, Donna Richards and her husband, John, refused to be pessimistic about their son's future. Five years later Justin is an 8-year-old with an IQ nearly triple the number first estimated. He is fully capable of speech and attends Cedar Bluff School. Donna believes her family's stubborn optimism guided them toward the appropriate treatments for their son.

“If I would have accepted the doctor's diagnosis nothing would have ever changed for Justin,” she says. “He would have never spoken again and would be just sitting in the corner somewhere.”

Donna, who lives near Gaylesville, attributes Justin's dynamic rise to a “holistic” treatment, a non-medicinal approach that includes toxin removal and cognitive remediation. Studies suggest that 1.5 million Americans may have a certain degree of autism, so Justin is not alone in coping with the disorder. What his family has undertaken to increase autistic awareness is what sets Justin's story apart.

Donna is now a devoted autism advocate and “expert.” She has been featured, quoted or profiled in periodic publications, regarding the disorder's identification and minimization. Yet the most visible flag the Richards' have raised in facing this medical malady is through the book, “My Brother's Keeper: A Kindergartener's View of Autism”.

After Justin's diagnosis, the family gathered all the information about the condition they could, yet they struggled to find a book to help explain it to Jace, Justin's older brother by just one year.

“Jace came home from daycare one day and said, 'Mama, kids are making fun of Justin. They don't know what autism is, and I need to help them.'”

With construction paper, a three-hole punch, tape, and a little help, Jace created a book that tried to explain autism from a child's perspective. With the assistance of friend, Randy Chesnut, those humble pages from the heart of a determined, big brother evolved the “My Brother's Keeper” book. Within the book's colorful, kid-friendly pages Jace describes how he and his family make the best of Justin's situation through both frustrating and heartwarming experiences. Through book promotions, the Richards have appeared in 30 publications and on nearly a dozen TV shows. Donna has been on QVC with Tony Robbins, and the kids have been featured in a documentary on autism. The family's web site mybrotherskeeper.biz offers a quarterly newsletter, various resources related to autism, and a link with which the book may be purchased. Donna also shares her insight with articles on the web site such as, “Making Your Home an Autism-Friendly Environment,” and “Seven Things a Child with Autism Wishes He Could Tell You.”

Like her son, Donna also overcame early-life obstacles. Abandoned by her mother at the hospital after she was born, Donna acquired her work ethic from her adoptive parents and her optimism from knowing that her life's path can only travel uphill. Donna's adopted family was a military one that instilled the benefits of rising early, even on the weekends.

She has carried some of those positive, punctual sentiments to her own clan.
“Donna teaches her kids to call the alarm clock an 'opportunity clock,'” Chris Johnson, a family friend, explains. “If you spend the night at the Richards' house you will be awakened at 6 a.m. by several voices yelling, 'I'm back!' That is how the children at her house welcome the day.”

Donna has led quite the multifarious life. Along with parenting five boys, ranging from ages eight to 20, she has written a fiction novel, “Whispers in the Wind”, and a country music instruction manual called “Gone Country”. She is currently working on a Civil War time travel story set in northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia. In addition, Donna runs a mobile home sales and transport company and owns a pawn shop. She sometimes volunteers for the Open Door Home in Rome, Ga., and is the chairwoman of Women of Wisdom, a female support group. Donna also manages a fair amount of motivational speaking at mobile home seminars.

“I'll probably never retire because I'm really addicted to work,” she says, adding that she works around 60 hours a week. “I like people and helping them. It's very exciting. Life is too short to be negative.”