Tom’s Success with ICONz
Tom is a 20 year old man who has particular taste in desserts. Diagnosed with autism at a young age, he and his parents work with Dr. Johnson. Tom’s mother may make only chocolate cakes or cookies. Vanilla or other flavors can incite angry refusals to eat and tantrums that can last from hours to days. His parents have learned to live with this, but everyone in Tom’s family wishes that he could show more flexibility in desserts as well as other areas of his life. Anxiety exacerbates every feature of his autism and leaves him over-whelmed, over-stimulated and isolated in his room until he can manage to rejoin his family. Minor disruptions to his routines generate disproportionate reactions.
As families who have a member with ASD know, when one family member has ASD, all members are affected. Parents go to great lengths to keep the peace and siblings see their parents’ time and attention go to their sibling instead of them. Life can revolve around a family member with ASD for reasons that everyone regrets and feels powerless to change.