A Different Way of Area efforts to aid those with autism gaining ground by
Zinta Aistars
photography by
ERIK HOLLADAY
W
hen Bruce Mills, an English professor at Kalamazoo College, speaks about the experience of having a family member with autism, one of the first words he uses to describe that experience is “isolation.” In part, that isolation once came from the choices Bruce and his wife made about their family’s social life. It was difficult to take their son, Jacob, into public places — for fear of his sometimes disruptive and socially inappropriate behavior and for fear of being judged. “I recall going to the movies as a family, with my wife, Mary, and our daughter, Sarah, and our son, Jacob,” Mills says. “We sat in the far corner and brought various supplies along as distractions for Jacob, but at some point he got loud. Someone in front of us turned around and said, ‘If you were good parents, you’d know how to deal with this.’” Mills sighs, remembering. “I went off on him. I felt hurt. I had begun to hope that we could be out there as a family, but we couldn’t.” That was a long time ago. Today, Jacob is 21 years old and has earned a certificate of completion for high
24 | Encore APRIL 2014
Knowing