By Robin Ruehlen
C & G Staff Writer

BEVERLY HILLS — When Parker Reed was an infant, he was a healthy and on track developmentally until he neared his second birthday. That’s when his parents noticed that Parker’s already sparse vocabulary was dwindling … eventually down to nothing.

“Parker had previously had problems with fluid in his ears, so we thought it might be a hearing problem,” his mother, Amy, recalled.

“But after two sets of tubes, we realized it was not.”

After visiting several neurologists, he was eventually diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at Children’s Hospital in Detroit.  Amy said she felt relieved at the diagnosis, as doctors had been prepared to send her son to a Muscular Dystrophy clinic.

“I used to teach first-grade, so I felt like, OK, we can handle this,” she said.

“I came home and started researching big time, to make sure I was choosing the right therapies and the right doctors.”

Amy’s husband, Rick, said that after much “careful and prayerful” evaluation, the couple chose to enroll Parker in the Easter Seals PLAY Project in Ann Arbor. Easter Seals provides services, education, outreach and advocacy to people living with autism and other disabilities.

Parker, now 8 and a second-grader at Beverly Elementary, is this year’s Southeastern Michigan Easter Seals Ambassador. He spoke at the first Walk for Autism at Oakland University in August, and will be a featured speaker at the Easter Seals’ “Hollywood Nights,” a black-tie event in October.

The PLAY Project involved four years of play therapy for Parker on a daily basis that Rick Reed compares to the equivalent of a full-time job.

“He appears to be high-functioning and intellectually or academically age-appropriate, especially for a child with a disability,” he said.

“That success is due to early intervention, tens of thousands of dollars, many thousands of miles and the support of aggressive care from our team of doctors.”

Amy said she credits Dr. Rick Solomon, creator of the PLAY Project, with the fact that most people don’t even know Parker has autism.

“The play therapy brought Parker out again. He had no words, no eye contact. He was just to himself,” she said.

“He still prefers to play by himself, but he does interact.”

His parents also credit the Birmingham Public Schools for providing a safe, caring environment for Parker — even his classmates are involved.

“We moved to the Birmingham district because it is one of the top districts in Michigan for providing autism services. His classmates are wonderful — they help him out when he gets distracted, and help him to the car at pickup time. They’re great.”

As the child ambassador for “Hollywood Nights,” Parker will meet attendees and speak about the impact Easter Seals has had on his family’s life. Parker told his mother he is “excited” about speaking into the microphone.  He also designed this year’s Easter Seals holiday cards.

“We have dreams of watching him play in the school band or sports one day, we would like him to go to a high school dance, get his driver’s license, go on a date and yes … even go to college, get married and be self-sustaining,” said his father.

“We owe Easter Seals and Dr. Solomon a life debt. Each time Parker does things cognitively normal, we have Easter Seals to thank for keeping Parker on track.”

Easter Seals’ “Hollywood Nights” benefit will take place Oct. 9 at the Royal Park Hotel, 600 E. University Drive in Rochester. All proceeds will benefit Easter Seals’ early intervention autism therapies.

For additional information or to purchase tickets, call (248) 451-2953 or visit www.essmichigan.org.

You can reach Staff Writer Robin Ruehlen at rruehlen@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1105.