Treating autism with alternative solutions

April is Autism Awareness Month, and for Lisa Ackerman of Newport Beach, whose son Jeff, 10, is autistic, her organization — Talk About Curing Autism — is doing a lot more than just talking about it.

Ackerman and her husband formed the nonprofit parent group in Huntington Beach when her son was diagnosed seven years ago, because her then-17-year-old daughter, Lauren, was tired of hearing her parents complain about the lack of information they were getting at the meetings they were attending.

As a result, Ackerman makes sure that her organization provides families with autistic children educational material, financial support, medical assistance, and a family environment where they can be with other people who know what they're going through.

Ackerman said as parents, she and her husband didn't know enough, they needed to do something for their son, and she wanted help from the community.

"Having a child with autism is so isolating. We just wanted people we could have a barbecue with in our backyard. People who wouldn't look at us funny because our [son] was flapping [his arms] in the corner, doing something he couldn't help," Ackerman said.

The Autism Society of America defines autism as a neurological disorder affecting a child's ability to speak and to interact with other people and their surroundings.

Children with autism often repeat words, phrases and movements, and can be unresponsive to verbal prompts — appearing as if they are deaf, when their hearing tests in the normal range.

When Ackerman's son was diagnosed at the age of 2-and-a-half — and she can tell you the exact date and time — one in 500 children were being diagnosed with autism.

It is estimated that autism now appears in 1 in 150 births in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, 2007, and this number is on the rise.

The Ackermans were advised by three doctors that they might have to look into institutional placement for their son because he was "moderate to severely autistic, and you and your husband need to get on with your life."

For Ackerman, that option was out of the question.