Connecticut Students Engineering Solutions For Everyday Challenges Of Autism

In homes in which a family member has autism, day-to-day tasks can be challenging. One family is now trying to solve some of those issues, by pairing up with engineering students from the University of Connecticut.

In the autism community, there’s a saying: If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.

“My son is 18. He has severe autism and he’s nonverbal,” said Darlene Borré, who lives with her son Ben in West Hartford.

Borré said for parents of children with severe autism, talking about the challenges of daily living can sometimes be hard.

“Because it’s very vulnerable to discuss some of these topics,” Borré said. “Our type of autism is messy. It’s sometimes dangerous.”

Ben is over 6 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds. Borré said he can be impulsive around food, so it’s a challenge to keep him from getting into the refrigerator unsupervised. He also might break glass and try to eat around it, running the risk of accidentally cutting himself, or he might overstuff on food and choke.

Borré said child locks don’t work to keep Ben safe.

Read the rest of the story at Connecticut Public Radio’s website.