Fish Wish Comes True For Autistic Children, Families

ATLANTA -- The Georgia Aquarium provides the perfect environment for autistic children and their families to have their Fish Wish come true.

They live in a world where it can be difficult to communicate, to socialize, to express emotion. But advances in therapy have helped children with autism leave their world and move into ours.
|
Never has that been better demonstrated than when patients and their families from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta spend the day at the Georgia Aquarium -- to have their fish wish come true.

What child wouldn't yell out at the amazing animals, the spectacular colors, the unusual shapes at the Georgia Aquarium?

Not that long ago -- these three.

"These children entered the program not speaking -- not really recognizing fully who their parents were," said education program director at the Marcus Autism Center Catherine Tapani.

All three are autistic and receiving therapy at the Marcus Autism Center. They have gone from being in a world all to themselves, to feeling comfortable in ours.

"He?s made friends. He's learned how to read, how to write, how to count" said Jeff Chiusano, father of an autistic child.

But it does no good to do it in the therapy room -- if you can't do it outside. In a way the Georgia Aquarium is an extension of their therapy.

"For autistic kids, fish in the fish tanks have had a wonderful appeal and a very calming influence," said Georgia Aquarium CEO, Mike Leven. "That's what we've seen."

Today, it's exciting not calming. But the payoff is still there. A chance for the boys to show what they've learned, and for their parents to see how far they've come.

"A day like today, when he gets to come and he gets to see the fish, he's so excited about it," said Jeff Chiusano. He's seen things on TV and in books. But now he actually gets to see it, in the real world. And I think for him memories like this -- he remembers things for such a long time -- he'll be talking about it for months."

Fish Wish is cooperative program with the Georgia Aquarium, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and The Shepherd Spinal and Brain Injury Center. Some 450 tickets a year are given to patients to enjoy the Georgia Aquarium.

Some autistic children have trouble expressing love. For the families of these boys, it looks like today their fish wish has come true.