Child Of The Month

Travis Ritter
Age 9

Travis was born in July, 1998 just two days after his oldest brother, Dylan, turned 3. His other big brother, Austin, was almost 2 years old. We were thrilled to have three sons all close in age! Travis weighed 7 lbs, 4 ozs and appeared healthy by all early observations.

Travis was a content baby, rarely crying and generally happy just observing his brothers and others around him. However, he did not smile often. He also did not seem overly responsive to people. He seemed to watch what was going on around him, but he didn’t really reciprocate with any emotions. By four months of age, we were concerned that something was wrong.

Since Travis was very healthy, eating and growing normally, and most significantly, did not appear to have any physical signs of a genetic disorder, our pediatrician suggested waiting until Travis was six months old to perform any testing. We hoped that he would “catch up”. However, by six months, he still could not sit well and was not babbling. We ran several tests and visited a neurologist who diagnosed Travis as hypotonic (low muscle tone) but could not give any other diagnosis. After several months and more obvious physical milestone delays, we began Early Intervention Services for Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT), and Speech Therapy.

While on vacation, we received a call from our pediatrician stating that the laboratory that ran the Fragile X test had found something unusual. The Fragile X test was negative, but they saw something extra while looking at his chromosomes. It was very small and probably insignificant, but they wanted to run further analysis on the chromosomes. It turned out to be an extra piece of a 15th chromosome. Just a week before Travis turned one, we met with a geneticist that provided the diagnosis of Isodicentric Chromosome 15, now known as Chromosome 15q Duplication Syndrome. At that time, there was very little known about the disorder. We were simply told that Travis would have significant developmental delays. We were provided with the name of one woman who lived in Pennsylvania and had a son with the same condition~Donna Bennett. Donna provided us with some information that gave us a frame of reference for reshaping our expectations of life for Travis and our family.

Travis participates in a Chromosome 15 Research Study which began at UCLA under the direction of Carolyn Schanen, MD PhD. His evaluation at 41 months of age indicated that Travis also met the criteria for autism.

After finally receiving a diagnosis, we continued with the Early Intervention therapies and added additional OT and PT through a local facility affiliated with the Elks. Travis’ progress was slow but steady. By 15 months he was cruising and at 24 months he began to walk. Once Travis could walk, he began to climb! He appeared clumsy and awkward while walking on the ground, but once he climbed onto the arm of the couch, he could balance like a gymnast. While the physical achievements progressed, he continued to be nonverbal. After a few ear infections, when Travis was 3, we had a sedated hearing test performed, his adenoids removed, and tympanostomy tubes put into his ears. The hearing test was normal. The ear infections stopped and his breathing and sleeping were quieter without the enlarged adenoids. There was still little impact on his ability to speak.

Travis attended a private preschool for children with communication differences for three years. Each classroom had a speech therapist in the classroom all day as one of the teaching staff. Travis responded well to his daily speech sessions and began using an augmentative communication device and produced some new sounds. After two years with intense speech therapy, the therapist identified that Travis had verbal dyspraxia. Basically, he lacked the oral motor planning needed to form words. At this point, he had a reasonable receptive vocabulary, but he was unable to speak words for items which he knew.

At the age of seven, Travis was placed in a new school for children with autism and multiple disabilities. In this school, Travis has thrived. The staff is energetic and high expectations are set for the children. The school uses teaching techniques based on Applied Behavior Analysis. Although receiving a formal diagnosis of autism, Travis is currently placed in a multiple disabilities classroom with an aide. He receives individualized instruction based on ABA in a generalized classroom setting. He also continues with OT, PT, and speech therapy. He loves the computer and uses a touch screen to run recreational programs independently. He is now working toward using the mouse instead of the touch screen.

Our current challenges are in the area of self help skills. Travis can dress himself with assistance and is toilet trained on a trip schedule. However, he lacks the desire to do things independently. So, it is a constant effort to encourage him to learn these skills when it is easier and faster to do them for him.

We believe in including Travis as much as possible in family activities. Travis has been ice skating, roller skating, bowling, snow tubing in the Poconos, rafting down the Delaware River, to Disney World where he loves the rides, to Myrtle Beach and Fort Lauderdale where he enjoyed days of swimming in the sun, many times to Arizona to visit with family, down the Jersey shore where he loves the ocean, to Boston for a Red Sox game (though he liked the scoreboard the best) and, this past summer, Travis traveled with us to Europe. We visited France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. He walked many miles and adjusted to the time change easier than I did!

The best things about Travis are not what he has done, but who he is. He is a handsome, strong boy with intense brown eyes. He skips when he is happy, jumps up and down, and has a contagious laugh. He is almost always happy. He gives big hugs and lots of kisses. He loves music from classical music to songs from Blues Clues and Dora. He thinks Elmo’s World and Mr. Noodle are very funny. He can figure out electronic devices faster than an adult. He can swim, though he prefers to keep his head under the water and just float to the top. He loves animals and has a gentleness in their presence that they seem to understand. When he needs assistance, he uses sentence strips or takes you by the hand to show you what he wants. He works very hard to achieve every milestone and continues to gain skills at a slow but steady pace. He remains seizure-free so far!

Travis’ biggest supporters are his brothers. They guide and encourage him and have shown the community that having a brother like Travis is a special privilege. Some days are more challenging than others, but Travis has led us on a journey where we have learned that sometimes the easiest path is not the most rewarding.

Travis on his boogey board
Travis at the Louvre in Paris
Rafting on the Delaware River
Travis in the pumpkin patch	Travis at his uncle’s wedding
Travis with his brothers

Child Of The Month Archive

Exceptional Parent Magazine Feature Article by Cindy Johnson	Alexis Marie Johnson
Child of the Month	Travis Ritter
Child of the Month	Lisa Poore
Child of the Month	Spencer Gray
Child of the Month	Lindsey Young
Child of the Month	Olivia Taylor
Special People Profile	Cheyenne Rain Jackson
Special People Profile	Naomi
Special People Profile	Bobby
Special People Profile	Kevin
Special People Profile	Olivia
Special People Profile	Megan
Special People Profile	Sarah
Special People Profile	Cheyenne D
Special People Profile	Joshua
Special People Profile	Robert
Special People Profile	Frederique
Special People Profile	Julia
Special People Profile	Ryan
Mount Prospect Times Article	Jake
Epilepsy Foundation Newsletter	Will
Exceptional Parent Magazine Story	Joshua D