Ethan

Written by Ashley Wells

Ethan is a 15 year old boy who experiences Autism. Ethan lives at home with his parents and 2 younger brothers, Micah and Zakiah. Ethan has a great sense of humor, he has a dry wit that is very clever and funny, but he also loves physical humor and has a laugh that makes everyone around him giggle with him. He is kind and tries very hard to do things well; he likes to please others. He is good mannered and generally enjoys life. He says things how he sees them.

Ethan loves reading and books; going to the library is a weekly activity. He loves to watch movies, listen to audio books, and radio programs. He has been curious recently about animatronics and has watched many Youtube videos on how they work. He loves to put together Legos. He enjoys older/retro video games. He likes swimming in the summer and family hikes. This semester at school he has taken a ceramics class and has really loved it. He is part of the partner club at Sutherlin high school and participates in their team sports throughout the school year. He is now playing basketball for Sutherlin high school Unified Special Olympics team.

Ethan has many strengths, some which are persistence and perseverance, he never gives up, he is creative and imaginative, he loves his family, and he is willing to apologize when he knows he is wrong.

Transitions can still be a challenge for him and especially if the schedule and routine are a little different than he expected. Ethan has some sensory challenges, he gets overwhelmed when there is a lot of bright lighting and noise. At times his family finds it challenging knowing how to engage well with him when it’s not something he is interested in. He engages in scripting often, which makes it hard at times when he and his family are in public and others may not understand why he is talking loudly or to himself. Ethan walks on his tiptoes; this can cause the heel cords to tighten and restricts range of motion in his ankles. His family has had to do many interventions over the years including serial casting and botox injections. He is supposed to wear AFO's on his legs which he doesn't like very much.

Ethan is very interested in learning to drive and recently said he would like to be a police officer when he grows up.

“Ever since we were told that Ethan has Autism, we said that we wanted Ethan to excel at being the person he was created to be and we would do our best to  encourage and advocate for that for him. We were told by his doctor to remember we were going home with the same boy we walked into the clinic with that day and that has always helped us to remember first the amazing boy and son he is and not just to focus on his autism. Being a part of his community and contributing to it in a way that works well for him as well as helping him become independent in a way that is appropriate for him. “ - Ethan’s mother, Jayne.