Autistic boy gets huge birthday party after no one RSVPs

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — When Lisa Schramel planned her autistic son Mathias’ sixth birthday party almost a month ago, she was heartbroken when no one responded to the invitation.

Schramel took to Facebook to vent her frustrations and soon was astounded by the response she received.

“Back in the beginning of October I sent out invitations to his class. I gave the parents a couple months’ notice, it was an RSVP. It was going to be at the movie theater the day after Thor opened. Mathias was really looking forward to it. The goal was to get enough kids, it was a minimum of 10, and we were willing to pay for that, it was no big deal,” said Schramel. “We waited to hear from people and weren’t hearing anything. We started looking at other options like a home party and I went on Facebook to vent a little. That’s all I wanted to do, but it went from venting to all these people wanting to make his big day special.”

Schramel said her Facebook post took on a life of its own and residents started planning a birthday party for Mathias.

“All these people started to offer to do these things. It’s hard with an autistic child and hard to get people to understand that sometimes his behavior is difficult to deal with, but he has a good heart,” said Schramel. “All these people decided they wanted to come. I think about 218 people were interested in doing something. At that point I had 15 hours to put it together.”

More than 200 people joined to celebrate Mathias’ birthday at Alameda Park on Nov. 4.

“We were surprised that someone had made five cakes and people ordered pizzas from Pizza Hut and Little Caesar’s,” said Schramel. “The table was piled with gifts ... we asked people to make donations to the zoo or animal shelter. Mathias thought it would be nice to donate gifts to the puppies and kitties, so he donated some gifts to the animal shelter and also Toys for Tots.”

Schramel said she was grateful to all the people who came out to celebrate Mathias’ birthday and will never forget their kindness.

Mathias was 2 years old when he was diagnosed with autism, but started showing signs as early as 8 months old.

“His milestones didn’t come easy. He didn’t speak until he was almost two-and-a-half,” said Schramel. “He’s got intense sensory issues. What he eats is always on a strict guideline and what he touches. The world is different for Mathias.”

According to Autism Speaks, an organization advocating research and better treatments for autism spectrum disorders, some of the possible signs of autism in babies and toddlers are no social smiles or other joyful expressions by 6 months, limited or no eye contact, no sharing of vocal sounds, no smiles or other non-verbal communication by 9 months, no use of gestures to communicate and no response to their name when called by 12 months. Other signs include no words by 16 months and no meaningful, two-word phrases by 24 months.

“We were told he might not speak, which isn’t true. The miracle is getting him to stop,” said Schramel. “Doctors gave us a sense of what he was going to be like, but we have to remember there’s tons of possibilities. We have to understand that they see the world through a bullhorn. Everything is louder, bigger and they feel trapped. That’s what causes him to act out. When I first got him into school he would scream and he would have to be restrained in order for me to leave. That was terrible, it’s probably why parents didn’t want their kids to come to his birthday party.”

Mathias, who is in kindergarten at North Elementary, is struggling to keep up with his classmates, but Schramel said she is trying to enroll him in an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

“I’m fighting for an IEP for him right now. He’s in normal classes and he’s regressing so hard. Everything that we worked on that he knew, he literally knows less at this point than on the day he started. That’s probably the hardest part,” said Schramel. “What parents of autistic children need to know is that there’s this thing called the (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). It guarantees your child to have an equal right at an education when it comes to public schooling. A lot of autistic children aren’t getting what they need. These kids are going to have to compete in a world that’s not friendly for them, and it’s really hard.”

Schramel said she will continue to fight for her son and has hopes that he will thrive like any other child.

“Trust me, we’re doing our best. When you have an autistic child your hopes and dreams are different. You hope people are nice to him, you hope he learns to tie his shoe, you hope he learns to make food for himself. All these simple tasks that come easy to other children,” she said. “I dream he has a quality of life outside of home and that one day he will experience normalcy.”

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Follow Jacqueline Devine on Twitter: @DearestDevine