Military spouse finds outlet for autistic son – KENS 5 News

SAN ANTONIO – Rebecca Reveles-Jones moved to San Antonio because of her husband’s career in the Army. She noticed that her 18-month-old son started acting differently when her husband got deployed overseas for a year.

“I thought that was the reason he stopped talking and making eye contact and stopped socializing,” she said.

She later learned, after a lengthy evaluation, that her son was on the autism spectrum. She said that because he is nonverbal, it makes it difficult for her to know what he needs. And because socialization can be a challenge for kids with autism, it can be difficult for her now-2-year-old son, Antonio, to make friends.

“He doesn’t know how to associate with other kids his age, so a lot of times, kids will push him down or they don’t want to play with him because he just doesn’t know how to interact with them,” she said.

She added that being a parent of a child with autism can feel very isolating at times.

“As a parent, if you’re out in a normal setting, other parents look at you,” she noted. “They’re like, ‘Why aren’t you controlling your child?’ That’s how he is, it’s not his fault.”

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