First-generation Canadians face the isolation of autism
By Louise Kinross
Watch our new A Family Like Mine video!
In it you will meet Mukti Reddy and her husband Satya Dharmapuram, as well as their 12-year-old son Kautik.
The family came to Canada in 2015 from India, where their families still reside.
Kautik was diagnosed with autism in 2017. Through testing the family paid for in the United States, his autism was linked to a gene change called ASH1L in chromosome 1.
Kautik loves reading, especially non-fiction. He speaks three languages, and is interested in soccer, basketball and cricket.
The family’s three rescue dogs are a key part of their family, and Kautik enjoys playing fetch with them and getting them to “shake hands.”
As first-generation Canadians, Mukti and Satya have found raising a child with autism isolating. Mukti’s concerns about Kautik’s development were initially dismissed by doctors.
“Others don’t understand what parents go through and you kind of end up being isolated,” Satya says. “We don’t have families here; we only are dependent on friends and really we don’t have friends.” Mukti doesn’t work and Satya works from home, so their opportunity to meet people is limited.
“There’s one thing that I think would really help parents with kids on the spectrum or any neurodevelopmental disorder for that matter is that connection,” he says. “Having groups that regularly meet that are actually staying connected is something that is missing.”
Mukti has set up two online support groups.
Care4ASH1L is a Facebook group for families with children affected by the genetic condition ASH1L.
Autism Mom Meetup is a WhatsApp group for families with autistic children in York Region.
In addition to social isolation, Kautik’s parents discuss the financial stress of paying for Kautik’s therapies in a one-income family. They waited six years for Ontario funding. “In our case I even drove Uber as an evening job and was working full time in the daytime,” Satya says.
A Family Like Mine is a video series about diverse families raising children with disabilities, produced by BLOOM.
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