The kids gather on the starting line, parents lean forward ready to cheer them on, the starter’s gun slices the air …and they’re off.  There they go, galloping up the school sports field…except that is for one child back on the starting line.  He stands watching, waiting until the winner breaks through the tape and the runners complete their race and then it’s his turn.  Onlookers cheer, kids call his name as he runs his solitary race.

Little David Heyburn was just 18 months when it was recognised he had ‘autistic tendencies’.  His father, also called David, describes the reaction of him and his wife Diane to this news: “I remember hearing this term autism and wondering what it meant.  But it’s when you realise that it’s a life-long condition that it becomes very hard - that this is the way your child will always be.  And then you realise the level of care you will have to provide – even when he’s an adult.  And then you have to explain everything to your parents – it’s very difficult.”

Generally recognised as a growing problem in our society, autism can be one of a parent’s worst nightmares.  But how do a regular family cope with the challenges that it brings their way?  And how can community groups better equip themselves to help such families?

For the Heyburn family their faith in God was crucial in this journey to explore the world that an autistic person inhabits.  But didn’t this crush their faith?  For David it wasn’t like that: “We questioned ‘why’ but we didn’t doubt God.  We knew that this is what God must want for us, that this was his plan- although it’s probably still not clear to us ‘why’…but we still trust.”

David however has been a “great reward” for the family according to his dad: “There are things about him that are so special…like that innocent childishness.”  David senior smiles as he recalls the first day his son went to school, waving him off on that big yellow bus and wondering what the future held.  And of course the journey has been full of frustration too, especially as they learned more of their son’s limitations.

It has been within autism support group PAPA and the church that the family and young David found much encouragement.  But what more can society do to aid young people like David?  For his dad it’s all about awareness and understanding: “People just need to try to understand autism.  With a growing number of cases people need to be more aware of what it is and how to help.”  If even one person within an organisation was trained in ‘makaton’ communication - then stories or messages could be tailored to those with autism.

How beautiful would it be if young people like David, or families like the Heyburns, never had to feel that they were running a solitary race.  That we’d be prepared to not just cheer them on, but run a bit of the way with them…