When Erin Nagle leaves her middle school for the day, she doesn’t go home.
Instead, the 15-year-old heads to a special Lynnwood home she shares with three other girls, all of whom have a developmental disability known as autism spectrum disorder.
The house is run by Smithwright Services, a 20-year-old Lynnwood-based non-profit organization that provides residential care services for both adults and children.
Smithwright Services, started by two families with developmentally disabled children, has served adults in the community for many years.
With the arrival in 2006 of its new director, Liz Braun, the organization began to focus more attention on helping families with children whose autism is so severe, parents are unable to care for them full time.
The girls’ house opened in September 2006, and a house for boys with severe autism opened last spring. They serve eight children between the ages of 8 and 15, though they can accept teens up to age 19 as long as they’re in school.
All funding for the program comes from the state Department of Social and Health Services, through its Department of Developmental Disabilities. Parents don’t pay anything.
“There’s so many things going on for her that, as a family, we couldn’t conquer,” said Erin’s mother, Shayne Nagle, executive director of ARC of Snohomish County, another non-profit organization that helps families and individuals with disabilities. “It was really hard work with a kid who has sleeping problems and behavior problems.”
At the place she refers to as “the blue house,” Erin and the other girls are supervised by trained staff members, who are with the children when they’re not at school or visiting their parents.
LaRae Clark, 26, manages the house.
“It gives me a sense of accomplishment knowing I’m making a difference in people’s lives,” she said.
Autism Spectrum Disorder affects a person’s ability to communicate and relate to others as well as their social interactions, language and communication. About 25 percent of people with autism have little to no speech abilities.
As a disorder, it can have mild to severe effects on behavior. At one extreme are children and adults who need constant supervision. At the other end of the spectrum, such as with Asperger’s Syndrome, people may hold jobs and live fairly normal lives.
The film “Rain Man” profiled the life of a severely autistic savant.
Autism’s incidence has been on the rise and no one really knows why, though researchers who study autism have offered some possible reasons, including toxin exposure.
Improved diagnosis has helped, Braun said, “but it doesn’t account for everything.”
“When Erin was diagnosed in 1994 at the age of 2, the rate of incidience was 1 in 10,000,” Shayne Nagle said. “Now it’s 1 in 166.”
One thing’s for sure, Nagle said: There’s a lot of misunderstanding about autism.
A common misperception is that people with autism are either brilliant savants — like “Rain Man” — or retarded, Nagle said.
“Oftentimes, teachers have said to me that she’s magical,” she said. “She’s very intriguing. I’ve always felt like she has a whole lot of knowledge about a whole lot of stuff, she just doesn’t interpret things the same way.”
Braun, who came to SmithWright after 16 years with the Ruth Dykeman Children’s Center in Seattle, said setting aside a residential facility for children with severe autism was important.
“Kids with autism need consistency,” she said. “They can be overwhelmed by the slightest change in their environment.”
To that end, the girls’ and boys’ houses are carefully laid out. They’re uncluttered and each child has his or her own bedroom. A white van, donated last August by Community Transit, shuttles the kids to their various appointments each day.
The slightest irregularity can throw a child with autism for a loop.
Shayne Nagle said her daughter can have a hard time distinguishing “are you done?” and “are you finished?”
Outings are common. Fishing trips, boat rides, picnics and other expeditions have gone fairly smoothly, Braun said.
“I’ll never forget going there to visit one day and they said ‘she’s in a fishing derby,’” Shayne Nagle said. “I was, like, what? They really value Erin and meet her right where she is and provide her with the things that are fun for her and enhance her life.”
For more information about SmithWright Services, call 425-775-6801.
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