By NATALIE GALLENTI
DINA Tamburro first realised her son Alessio was different when he was only nine months old.
The Taylors Hill resident recalls the moment vividly and admits since then life has never been the same.
“At nine months old, I had all the kids from our playgroup at my home … and after a while I noticed Alessio was playing away from the group,” Dina said.
“I put him back with the group … but he just kept crawling away.”
That was the first sign that her precious son’s development might be delayed and while everyone, including speech therapists and maternal child health nurses, told the worried mother her son was fine, she knew otherwise.
“A simple change of maternal health nurse changed my life.”
Finally, after extensive assessments, Alessio was diagnosed with autism, and the close-knit family had to tackle life differently.
“Seeing it on paper made it real … up until then I was too scared to even google austism.”
Autism is a disorder of brain development characterised by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviour. The symptoms and diagnosis become apparent before a child is three years old.
“There are daily challenges. With Alessio, we don’t know what we’re going to get.
“He needs a lot of prompting to socialise, and he doesn’t have the skills to play with other children.”
However, the 11-year-old has made significant advances in his speech and is an avid reader.
“There is so much negativity that comes with autism … these kids are just fantastic.
“We need to work together as a community, so these kids can become really great.”
Dina said it was imperative every parent of an autistic child taps into what they love most. For Alessio, it is music.
“Music is the key, that’s his outlet. He can memorise a song in no time.”
She said what helped her and husband Gino, along with their second child Luca, most is the support of Autism Angels – a group dedicated to assisting families dealing with the disorder.
Now the president of the group, Dina said it was always comforting to know you were not alone.
“You can never let autism affect family life … we need to give them the opportunities of any other children.”
To find out more about Autism Angels, call 0404 522 226.
