Parent Time

Autism advocate

Marie-Claude Osterrath
Since her son, Matthew, was diagnosed at 18 months with autism, Marie-Claude Osterrath of Calgary had focused on an intricate weave of therapies to help him connect with the world. That included applied behaviour analysis (ABA), speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, craniosacral therapy and more.

But it wasn’t until Matthew started preschool that Osterrath understood she was only dealing with part of the picture. “We realized that to ensure Matthew’s happiness, we had to develop an acceptance and understanding from people in his life,” she says. “Without the proper information, Matthew’s peers didn’t know how to respond to him and any attempts at making friends eventually fizzled.”

So in one of her first efforts to educate others about autism, Osterrath sent a letter to Matthew’s then-preschool classmates on Valentine’s Day, sort of “explaining” Matthew. The one-page letter, complete with colourful hearts and his picture, defined autism and gave concrete examples of how Matthew does things differently. “After that, people were way more welcoming and he was invited to birthday parties,” she says. That sparked her need to educate others about autism. A year later, she attended a conference on autism and learned of the Friend 2 Friend program, which was started by Heather McCracken, a Vancouver mom of three children, one with autism. The program, which involves a puppet presentation and a simulation game, demystifies autism for children. Osterrath took a four-day training program to learn how to conduct Friend 2 Friend and now, four years later, has done the presentations to hundreds of schoolchildren.

While Osterrath often sees kids reach that aha! moment as to what autism is, it can still stir up lump-in-the-throat moments. She recalls the time a little girl came up to her after a show to tell her about her autistic younger brother, only to find out later from the girl’s teacher that, until then, she had never, ever talked about her brother. It’s moments like those that Osterrath cherishes and knows she’s done her job of teaching others about autism, which ultimately helps make it a more understanding world for Matthew and other autistic children.

And she continues to teach. She hosts playgroups to give Matthew, now nine, the opportunity to socialize, as well as, again, help kids understand autism. (Included in the group is Meghan, Matthew’s seven-year-old sister.) Osterrath has also organized a T-ball game including her son and other children with autism and the local T-ball team.
Today, Osterrath sees the positive effect her efforts have had on Matthew. “People are accepting Matthew and I think he really feels that — he can’t verbally communicate that, but it comes out in other ways. He’s more relaxed, he sings, he smiles when anybody makes any kind of initiation with him,” she says. “He’s just a happier kid.”

Originally published in Today's Parent, December 2009