In recognition of National Autism Awareness Day (NAAD), the Fayette County Board of Developmental Disabilities (FCBDD) Early Intervention shared a video earlier this month that featured Arthur Call.
Arthur Call is a 6-year-old in kindergarten at Washington Court House City Schools’ Cherry Hill Primary. The following information was shared with the Record Herald from Arthur’s mom, Sylvia Call. Sylvia works at the FCBDD as an autism therapist.
Arthur, an aspiring meteorologist and an avid reader, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at Nationwide Children’s Autism Clinic when he was 2-years-old. He wasn’t able to talk at the time, and he was receiving Early Intervention services from FCBDD to help encourage his language development.
When Arthur was 2-and-a-half-years-old, he began talking and reading. Along with ASD, Arthur has something a bit more rare called Hyperlexia—an untaught ability to read at an incredibly young age, and a fascination with the written word.
As Arthur continued to play with language, he would string words and little phrases together in something his family dubbed “Arthur Poetry.” Sylvia eventually created a collection of some of his poems and found an illustrator who was excited to bring some of his poetry to life. This collection was turned into a book called “Into the Deep, Deep Brave,” and it was published when Arthur was 3-years-old.
Following the publication, Arthur was featured on a national podcast of children’s literature called All the Wonders, episode 378, by Matthew Winner, which can be found on www.allthewonders.com. The book can be found on Amazon.
Nowadays, Arthur is finishing up his kindergarten year and enjoying spending his spare time reading bedtime stories that are shared on the Facebook page, “Fayette County Board of DD Early Intervention.”
Sylvia was inspired by the services Arthur received when he was in the Early Intervention program. She was a veteran high school English teacher during Arthur’s Early Intervention days, but took a leap of faith and changed career paths to focus on the field of autism therapy.
She started a job in Early Intervention for the FCBDD, and then became a licensed PLAY Project Autism Therapist in 2019 so she could provide help for families of children on the autism spectrum in the local community.
Currently, she also works for Fayette Progressive Preschool as an autism therapist and teacher mentor as she completes her Teaching PLAY licensure.
For more information about PLAY Project Autism Therapy Services available through the FCBDD or early intervention services available in the county, including concerns relating to a child not meeting developmental milestones, please reach out to Sylvia Call at [email protected] or call the Fayette Progressive School at 740-335-1391.
Some common signs associated with ASD include repetitive behavior, difficulties with communication, and sensory sensitivities.
Although National Autism Awareness Day was on April 2, April is recognized as autism awareness month. The video featuring Arthur can be found at www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2545813925673765.
