'There's no harm in including, and always harm in excluding'

Troy University professor speaks on her 10-year-old community celebrity child's experience with autism.

April is Autism Awareness Month and, though many students have no experience with it, two Troy University professors have a child with autism who’s become a pseudo-celebrity in Troy. 

Drs. Dave and Jillian Camwell are professors of music at Troy university, but when they go home, they are the parents of three children. The youngest, 10-year-old Rosie, was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. 

“They just go through lists with parents and pediatricians and say, ‘how are you meeting certain milestones,’” Jillian Camwell said. “She had a speech delay, she wasn't walking very well, she walked quite late, she didn't take her first steps until about 18 months. 

“There are just little flags like that that are raised. We called her our little parrot at first.  

“Answering a question like, ‘do you want some juice?’ instead of saying yes, she would just say juice and so that's a big, very common thing for kids with autism.” 

Thankfully, catching it at two years old is extremely early for a proper diagnosis, with some people with autism having to wait until they’re teenagers or even adults to finally receive confirmation. This rare, early diagnosis allowed Rosie to get a head start at adapting and excelling at behavioral therapy, which is done through Troy’s Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) clinic. 

“She went every day after school,” Camwell said. “Then we cut that down to three times a week and then to twice a week and then she graduated. 

“[The ABA Clinic] deals with kids up until their teen years, but she was doing really well and meeting all her goals. That doesn't mean she doesn't have autism anymore, but it meant that she's really able to self-cope.  

“She's able to deal with the situation and kind of figure things out with the skills that they helped her.” 

Many people in Troy’s community know who Rosie is, not just because she’s the professors’ daughter or because she has autism, but because she’s personable and she loves to talk to people. 

“Everyone, if you meet or have met her, would just describe her as this ball of sunshine,” Camwell said. “She's in activities like Center Stagers and Summer Spotlight, but sometimes she decides, ‘Nope, I'm not participating.’ 

“If you say she’s going to go on stage and talk, she'll say no, but then randomly she’ll decide to introduce the jazz band my husband directs and then get up on stage and perform very randomly. It's fun to watch her grow up and leave her shell.” 

While Rosie is known for putting a smile on everyone’s face, this journey has also had its bumps. Just like parenting a neurotypical child, parenting a child with autism has challenges of its own. 

“Meltdowns can happen,” Camwell said. “She doesn’t have too many but sometimes you just have to choose what battles you want to fight.  

“She's still very rigid in things that she doesn't get her way; she eventually does get her way sometimes though because it's just not worth fighting some battles.” 

The Camwells overcame these challenges because of the help they received through the ABA clinic. They were able to take what Rosie was learning and apply it to the parenting side so they could be accommodate her and help her adapt. 

“I think part of the training that she's received we've received as well because there's been parent training along the way and a lot of parental support,” Camwell said. “I think meltdowns are hard and my husband and I have developed patience more than anything – and giving ourselves grace, learning how to accept that we don't know everything and accepting that we're going to make mistakes along the way.” 

Some of the difficulties come from outside the home. As a mom, one of the hardest things she has had to deal with is seeing Rosie be left out of things because of her autism. 

“It breaks my heart when she's excluded from things like birthday parties, or if I find out after the fact that there was like an event for kids in her class and that I didn't receive an invitation to it,” Camwell said.  

“Well, she can do anything that those other kids are doing, so yeah, maybe she will choose to sit on the sidelines for something, but that's her choice.  

“There's no harm in including, and there's always harm in excluding.” 

Despite all of the obstacles in the way of her success, Rosie has managed to adapt extremely quickly and serves as living proof to the Troy community that autism is not a disability, but merely an aspect of one’s life.