Autistic man speaks first word at 27 thanks to NDIS
For the Diaz family, having their son speak his first word at 27 years old was cause for a big celebration.
Blacktown
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For many parents, hearing their child say their first word is an exciting milestone.
But for the Diaz family, having their son Kristian utter his first word at 27 was cause for a big emotional celebration.
When Kristian was diagnosed with autism and a moderate intellectual disability at four years old, parents Jocelyn and Geraldo accepted their son may never be able to speak.
Through the support of speech therapists via the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Kristian has defied the odds and spoken his first word — ‘shoe’.
“When he was very young, he used to mouth simple words like ‘Mum’ but it wasn’t consistent,” Ms Diaz said.
“Many years passed and when he moved to a group home, that’s when the carers reported he did say a word.
“If he wants to go out, he will point at this feet at say ‘shoe’. Slowly he is getting the grasp of how to use verbal language.
“It’s just really exciting for everyone in my family.”
For 26 years, the Diazs cared for Kristian at home full-time before slowly transitioning him into life at a group home.
Ms Diaz said Kristian had come along leaps and bounds in recent weeks since moving into his own self-contained space.
“With his self-contained unit they’re able to concentrate on his life skills as there are no distractions from other house mates,” she said.
“They are training him to make up his bed when he wakes up in the morning, they’re involving him in the cooking of his meals and the washing.
“I’ve been so proud of him in the last week when he established he had his own space. He’s now getting more confident.
“To think for 26 years he was very dependent on me and his dad, but that’s the good part of being in a group home and I’m looking forward to him learning more.”
Kristian has been doing a combination of speech and occupational therapies
for a little over 12 months after receiving support from the NDIS two years ago.
Ms Diaz said the support the family had received through the scheme had been life-changing.
“Prior to the NDIS, supports were so difficult to get. Back when I was raising my children, it was so expensive. We just couldn’t afford them,” she said.
“It’s something we never imagined was going to happen and it couldn’t have been any better.
“We are very thankful the NDIS came into our lives.”
The extra help has even afforded the couple the chance to enjoy their first holiday in years.
“We’ve never had this chance before just to enjoy a few days of holidays,” she said.
“We never expected the NDIS to happen. Because of our difficulty in providing him support in Australia, we planned to take him back to the Philippines, so we started building his house there.
“Then the NDIS came and it made a big difference to our decision. We’ve already built the house, but it will now be a holiday house for Kristian.”