One of the lives that has been touched profoundly by Eden Autism Services is that of nine-year-old Zachary Zhang of Plainsboro, who enrolled in Eden’s early childhood program when he was turning five years old. He is now in Eden’s middle childhood program.
“He was diagnosed with autism when he was two and a half years old,” says his mother, Olifia Setiadi. “He was a regular baby. He had about 20 words but at a certain point, he started regressing, losing words instead of adding more, and he was losing eye contact too. He can’t form words any more but through Eden, he learned how to use something called an augmentive communication device to communicate with us. The last word I ever heard him say was ‘mommy’ when he was two and a half. But we still have hope that he’ll learn how to speak again.”
The family lives near the village area of Plainsboro and also includes her husband, John Zhang, an IT worker for the state, and eight-year-old Joshua, a second-grader at Wicoff School. Setiadi works as a project manager for clinical trials at GE Healthcare located in Carnegie Center. She says that as a working mother, especially, having Eden Autism Services in their corner has been a lifesaver.
“Eden has the best program not just in this area but in the entire country, and we consider ourselves very lucky to get in since the waiting list now is very long. At the time we started with Eden, Zachary was having some violent episodes, and it was difficult for us to handle him. Our case manager let us know about Eden, and once he was there, he was able to learn things to help him manage his behavior. Now that we have a new building it’s very exciting. They can expand services to the community around here, and that means so many more children can benefit from Eden.”
Setiadi says she is thrilled about the new classroom space, therapy rooms, and the cutting edge technology, but what truly excites her are the programs that will help her son learn how to manage and live in the real world.
“Right now, when they are young, they can go to school but what happens after that? They might not be able to go to college, so with the kind of training they can get in the kitchen or the store means they can have a better future for jobs. Most of the schools in New Jersey that support autism programs stop after the age of 17, and then that’s it, you don’t have any help. Eden helps extend the support with these kinds of training programs and then group homes. It gives me great comfort and peace of mind. Eden is more than just a school. It helps our family and helps us plan and work toward the future.”
