Here is a story that went into the Naples news and many newspapers throughout the country because Thomas Sowell printed a very negative story about autisim.

’Welcome to my world’

Editor, Daily News:

I guess columnist Thomas Sowell has never lived with a child with autism.

Welcome to my world.

My child was 14 months old and developing normally. Then he started to go backwards — stopped eating, stopped talking (yes, he had more than 15 words) and his face went blank. He started head-banging, having tantrums that two adults could not control.

Our pediatrician — at 18 months — said, don’t worry about it until he is 2½.

Well, we were the lucky ones and our pediatrician moved away. At our son’s 2-year-old checkup with a new doctor, she just listened, not sure what it was, but sent him to speech and occupational therapy, and there is were the help started.

No one said the word “autism.” They just worked with our child. We then found Eden Florida, which is an autism school. Our son is in the early intervention program, which is privately funded. Our son has been in therapy five days a week and it is working!

There is no funding for children with autism until the age of 5, and that is after doing one year in the public school system. After four trips to the Dan Marino Center and an overnight stay at the Broward Children’s Hospital for testing, our son was diagnosed with autism at 33 months. Yes it was heartbreaking, but at least we understand what is going on with him.

Our child will be three years old in December.

Sowell says therapy is abusive; not wanting to stop the head-banging and tantrums is abusive. Ignoring a child not communicating is abusive.

Therapy has not only taught our child but has taught us. I, as a parent, was doing everything wrong. Autism is an unknown disorder and we are learning every day how to teach our children.

My child is a gift that I would never give back, but I do need help, and therapy is the only proven way to help children with autism.

We cannot ignore a neurological disorder that is affecting one in 160 children.

Rosanne Hogle / Naples