SAN ANTONIO – Tracey Saunders has three sons with autism: ages 6, 13 and 17.
“All of my boys have presented so differently that I’ve had to learn new skills for all of them,” Saunders said.
She said she has learned those skills from the Autism Community Network in San Antonio, which provides diagnoses, therapy and family services.
The network’s therapy services now include a new program called Pediatric Autism Communication Therapy, or PACT.
PACT helps the parents and caregivers identify and shine a light on the child’s strengths.
“Without an approach like this, these kids can go through life thinking they’re just a big pile or package of deficits. We know that when we support the family, the child does better,” Autism Community Network CEO Dr. Carrie Alvarado said.
Dr. Alvarado was the first American ever trained to offer PACT.
Now, she has trained two other local therapists, one of them who is bilingual. The group remains the only PACT provider in the United States.
“It’s being used in Australia. It’s being used in the UK, in Switzerland, in France, in Japan. So, this (San Antonio) is the United States hub for PACT,” Alvarado said.
The program’s goal is to approach people with autism in a different way from the beginning, never forcing them to conform.
“If we try to force that little round peg in a square hole, all we do is break them,” Alvarado said. “So, let’s develop approaches that are building on the strengths that the child has.”
Globally, PACT kids went on to attend college, engage in society and find their independence.
“It’s a real paradigm shift in autism culture, autism support culture, research around autistic individuals,” Alvarado said, who described PACT as a social justice movement.
The program lasts between 12 and 18 weeks for about an hour and a half each week.
“It’s actually better via telehealth because I can see you and your child interacting in your natural environment,” Alvarado said.
Alvarado showed a clip from a session she had with Saunders over video chat. They played a pre-recorded video of Saunders and her son playing and talking.
Then they stopped the video and discussed wins and opportunities for growth.
Saunders said one of the biggest light bulbs that went off when she was in the PACT program was listening to her phrasing and seeing how her son reacted to her words.
“You are with your child 24/7, so you are the most logical person to have these skills and be able to implement them as much as possible,” Saunders said.
She said it’s never about changing who they are.
“We are working on being as functionally autistic as possible because there is nothing wrong with being autistic,” Saunders said. “And it’s more that we work on some of the idiosyncrasies, some of the struggles.”
Alvarado and her team will educate the community about PACT during an Autism Community Network Summit on Friday.
Speakers will include adults with autism who grew up with traditional methods.
“They have said, ‘Wait, this isn’t exactly what I needed. I still don’t feel like I have meaning in my life. There’s been a lot of attention to the things that I’m not good at. What about the things I’m good at?’” Alvarado said.
Saunders is grateful that her son won’t feel that way.
“Feeling heard makes such a difference,” Saunders said.
She sees that with her oldest autistic son who didn’t go through the PACT program but has worked with the Autism Community Network for 15 years.
“He has decided that he would like to keep going to school, so we have to figure out how to go to college,” Saunders said. “He has now completed two years of graphic design in high school, and he worked very hard to advocate to take French because he really, really, really wanted to take French!”
Saunders hopes to share her experiences with other families at the summit on Friday, which is open to the public.
Date: Oct. 4, 2024
Time: 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Tobin Center for the Performing Arts – 100 Auditorium Circle, San Antonio, TX 78205
Anyone interested can register for the summit by clicking here.