A full spectrum of support

“That’s Santino!” a young student shouted as most of Vare-Washington School, 1198 S. Fifth St., prepared to walk for Autism Awareness in their schoolyard May 7.

Santino Stagliano emerged from a van parked on South Fifth Street just before the march began to avoid the direct sun and heat. The 10-year-old is now a celebrity in our midst, a young man living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who finds solace in drawing dragons on T-shirts, which are now in high-demand. ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 1.5 percent of American children, which means about one in 68 were diagnosed in 2014. And last week, Stephanie Shane led the school’s sixth annual walk for Autism Awareness as part of a month-long national campaign to educate and advocate for children and adults struggling with the disorder and its consequences.

“It was an amazing day, it was amazing. I think the way that the school community and our community partners came together and put together such an awesome event to create autism awareness was just phenomenal,” principal Carolyn Williams said. “The neighbors coming out, too, and waving at the children as they were walking through the neighborhood, it was an amazing sight to see — I was so proud of the students and staff.”

The Dickinson Square West-based K-8 school has about 370 students and at least a hundred of them, mostly the younger grades, got a police escort to walk several blocks around the school, finishing up Moyamensing and Washington avenues. Students, mostly pupils not affected by ASD, held signs of support and encouragement: “Autism Awareness,” “Peace, Love, Autism,” “Autism Embraces Difference,” and “Autism Is Our Superpower” among them.

Shane, one of four autistic support instructors, reports a tentative total of at least $2,245 raised from the event and thanks a slew of event sponsors. Geno’s Steaks, Pretzel Factory, Trilogy Graphics, Tequilas Restaurant, Chick-Fil-A, Chris Tatreau, Pepsi and Froggy Carr Wench Brigade all get her praise, as does the police escort, a first in the six years of the walk, especially the father of one autistic student, a traffic argent who led the procession on his motorcycle.

“We’re really appreciative of the police and their support. They were a major help that day,” Shane said.

She and her students raised money in the building all through the month of April, which is national Autism Awareness Month. She says they sold silicone Livestrong bracelets, temporary tattoos, painted puzzle pieces and ribbons.

Shane, a resident of the 1000 block of Moyamensing Avenue, has been teaching in the building for 10 years and started in learning support and would come down to the autistic support classroom during her prep periods.

“I found out we were getting a second class and I went to the principal and asked ‘Could I possibly take that vacancy?’ Within 10 minutes she said the position is yours,” the Lower Moyamensing inhabitant recalled.

With six years of autistic classroom support experience, she says “it’s just really rewarding, you get to see the kids’ growth on a daily basis. I get so excited at the end of every year when I check their assessment and see how much they’ve grown.”

The success stories are enough to get someone right in the heart.

“I had one parent, when I started with her son five years ago, she said ‘I just want to hear my kid talk — I want to hear him say ‘mommy’ and ‘I love you,’” Shane relayed, and added now the mom says “I can’t get him to shut up.”

In the heart of “Two Street” at Wolf Street, the Staglianos are raising seven kids, and one of them happens to have some peculiarities that result from falling on the spectrum.

“He hears things and senses more than we do. Open a can of tuna fish, and he’s out of the house. A big blast of wind and he’s covering his ears,” his father, Mario, explained along the march route.

Many families with sons and daughters on the spectrum who don’t go to Vare-Washington came out to show support, as well. He and his wife

Lisa have been floored at the outpouring of support Santino’s Dragons T-shirt Facebook page has brought them.

“Maybe someday my son will find their dragon,” one parent said.

“I have a box of markers from Lexington, Kentucky at my house, I have no idea who sent them,” Mario Stagliano reported.

According to the PA Autism Census update, in Philadelphia County alone, the number of individuals receiving treatment went from 2,142 in 2005 to 4,617 in ’11 (a 116 percent increase).The majority of individuals receiving treatment fall in the 5 to 17 age range, but the number of adults over 21 seeking treatment is increasing as the disorder becomes better understood.

The diagnosis process has caused much speculation on its origin, but no known factor has been established. Vaccines, especially, have never been proven to be a source for autism.

“You hear a lot of different ways of having autism explained, but we just don’t know yet” Bethany Barney, the lead outpatient therapist at The Center for Autism who works with Santino, a student at George Sharswood School, 2300 S. Second St., said. “There’s a big range of different abilities with kids that are on the spectrum. The mildly impaired, where they have some difficulties navigating social situations, may be having trouble understanding other people’s feelings and how to respond to them.”

She teaches her patients how to use words, how to use pictures to communicate, how to use technology like iPads to aid communication and guides patients to skill acquisition (how to make a shopping list and grocery shop, how to ask a stranger where something is, how to follow a recipe).

“How do I make friends? How can I tell if someone’s interested in me? How can I talk to a girl?” she sited as some questions they try to tackle. As for Santino, “it’s so incredible to see how this has been for him. Getting an opportunity to interact with probably more people than he has before, there’s been such positive feedback from the community in South Philadelphia.”

There are plenty of stigmas about autism, and that doesn’t sit well with Barney.

“I hate it when people say that people on the spectrum don’t care or have feelings. They might feel awkward or not know how to respond,” she said.

She also defends the obsessive interests many spectrum kids express (“A lot of our kids are obsessive about SEPTA”) and says “it can be a really good way to connect — sometimes I think people think it’s a bad thing or negative to have these quirky interests, but it can be really helpful.”

Lastly, no blame need ever fall on parents.

“We don’t know what causes it, and I don’t think we should be blaming parents for anything they might’ve done in their life, ever,” Barney said.