“I usually try to hide my autism as much as I can,” said Trystan Lawless as we sat on the edge of his bed and he eyed my tape recorder. “What do you mean you try to hide it?” I asked him, hoping he would explain how he attempts to cover up his Asperger’s syndrome. Trystan stared at me with a puzzled look on his face, and replied, “I try to make it... not noticeable.” It took me a second to realize why Trystan had misunderstood my question. He had provided me with another definition of “hide it.” I re-phrased my question. “And how do you try and hide your Autism?” “I don’t know, I just try my hardest not to let my Autism get the best of me.” Trystan is the son of Khristina and Chad Lawless and he is a big brother to his four younger siblings. The family live on a farm 35 kilome-ters out of Redvers where Khristina tends to the cattle ranch while her hus-band works on drilling rigs. They will be welcoming an Autism guide dog into the family this July. Khristina hopes the guide dog will be the support Trystan needs to move forward into adulthood and that the dog will help the family function better together. The Lawless family will be picking up Trystan’s Autism guide dog from North Dakota this month. And though his Autism will not be hidden any longer, fifteen year old Trystan and his family hope the dog will help harness the negative effects of his disability. The dog is going to cost the family $15,000 US. To raise funds, the family is hosting a raffle draw September 8, 2012 with donated prizes in-cluding a iPad and a Hunting Blind.

Asperger’s syndrome, Trystan’s diagnoses, is the highest functioning form of Autism on the Autism Spectrum, commonly characterized by traits such as: Literal interpretation of communication from others, problems reading non-verbal or social cues or understanding social rules, a superior ability to focus on favourite activity or area of interest, and an exaggerated emo-tional response to situations (www.aspergers.ca). Cognitively, individuals with Asperger’s are known to hold average to superior intelligence. When asked what the diagnosis meant to him, Trystan replied, “After I heard Albert Einstein had it, I was pretty stoked! I was like, ‘that genius had it? Cool, why can’t I be a genius?’” Trystan admits it’s frustrating, however, to have a disability where it’s difficult to read be-tween the lines in conversation or recognize sarcasm.

Around age eight, at his previous school, Trystan began having social conflicts, and by age ten Khristina says he was often in trouble with his teachers and that his behaviours were increasingly getting worse. This was when Khristina started seeking professional help. Khristina was frustrated with the “bad boy” reputation that tagged Trystan and started writing down lists of behaviours which she brought to several different professionals before finally meeting the child psychiatrist who diagnosed Trystan with Asperger’s Syndrome. “I thought there had to be something deeper going on, rather than him just being a belligerent or obstinate child,” says Khristina. On the outside, Trystan seems like any other 15 year old boy. He has an Oilers poster hanging on his bedroom wall that his grandparents gave him for Christmas, he enjoys hunting trips with his family, he has a collec-tion of medals from playing on sports teams, and his favourite classes at his Francophone high school, L’École de Bellegarde, are shop and cook-ing. And though Trystan has come a long way from where he was just a few years back, Khristina says it was a long journey getting the high school student to where he is today. “He’s so high functioning, and he appears so normal, that people just don’t understand it,” says Khristina, who explains how the Lawless family is still getting used to the concept of Trystan’s diagnosis. “We don’t view Trystan as some autistic kid, says Khristina, “Trystan is Trystan first, and then the autism. And then the autism helps explain the difficult behaviours.” To the Lawless family, Trystan’s diagnoses was a long awaited answer as to why he acted in certain ways.“We would ask him, why are you acting like this? And he would say ‘I don’t know.’ But they [individuals on the Spectrum] really don’t know. I mean, most kids have a hard time seeing why things add up and why they would have a behaviour but it’s even worse with someone who is Autis-tic.”

Khristina has become very knowledgeable on Autism; she’s read books and attended seminars as a means to help her son. She understands Trystan is a visual learner, so he has visual cues on his Ipod and task lists written down. Through her research, Khristina has learnt that individuals on the Autism spectrum have a black and white mentality. “There’s no grey area,” Khristina says, “you can’t be indirect. I can’t be like, ‘Trystan, do you want to wash the dishes tonight?’ Because he’ll probably say no. It has to be an order... they [individuals on the Spectrum] can’t read between the lines.” Khristina says her and Chad have been strategizing to accommodate Trystan even before he was diagnosed with Asperger’s, but now they are able to be even more specific to his needs. Since diagnosis at age 12 and a half, Trystan’s parents have con-stantly brainstormed ways to make sure their son can have the best in life. Khristina says she was aware of the different service dogs, such as seizure dogs, seeing eye dogs and post traumatic stress dogs. At the time, more pressing issues regarding Trystan’s behaviours prevented the parents from immediately seeking a guide dog. But when Khristina read an article in the Maryfield News Letter about the Lion’s Club Purina Dog Walk, and “Au-tism Dog” was on the list, she knew it was time to take a serious look into the option. Trystan’s Autism guide dog will have a variety of responsibilities, all of of which will foster independence in the teenager. As an individual with Aspergers, Trystan’s mother says he needs con-stant prompting to complete daily living tasks most teenagers do habitu-ally, such as brushing his teeth, combing his hair, packing his lunch and remembering his school books. Khristina says Trystan’s younger siblings have taken it upon themselves to help instruct him - which isn’t always the best scenario - even though Trystan realizes he needs help.

“I think that he does long to be the brother and to be the one prompting to complete tasks,” says Khristina, “but it’s this role reversal where the younger siblings are helping the older sibling complete the daily living task.” Khristina thinks Trystan may resent these family dynamics because he knows it’s not the natural order of things. Trystan’s guide dog will aid him with daily routine roles such as alerting him to get up with his alarm clock and taking his medication on time. Trystan says if he skips his medi-cation, he doesn’t always know where to draw the line when teasing his siblings. Khristina hopes that the dog will also play a role in halting physi-cal horseplay before it gets a chance to get out of hand. After a bond is established between Trystan and his guide dog, the dog will be able to sense when Trystan is in, what Khristina explains as, “sensory overload- shutdown mode”. The dog is trained to signal him when he’s lashing out and interrupt repetitive or harming behaviour. The dog will nudge, lick, or apply pressure to Trystan, depending on the situa-tion. Trystan’s guide dog will also foster independence through social con-fidence. Khristina points out that the teenage years are challenging at the best of times, but an individual with developmental delays are even more likely to be exploited or bullied by his peers. “We know the unwritten social rules,” says Khristina, who explains how it’s common for an Autistic child to become an outcast for ‘social crimes’ such as tattling on classmates. Trystan admits he is concerned how his classmates will react to the dog. Trystan explains how he puts together “videos in his mind” and one scenario entails a classmate petting his dog even when Trystan has told him to stop. Khristina explains how Trystan has an “invisible disability” to the majority of society. But once Trystan has the service dog, his disabil-ity won’t be hidden anymore, and Khristina advised Trystan there may be judgement and speculation.

“We just said to him, ‘you’re not going to be invisible anymore. You’re going to be like: Hey, here I am, I have a dog and I have a disability. Is that something that you want?” says Khristina, “because people are mean, they might call you a retard. They might call you really bad names.’ I had to be blunt and tell him how it is.” After being offered the choice to take it or leave it, Trystan still wanted the guide dog. On the other side of things, Khristina hopes the guide dog’s vest will be a visual cue for the public to realize Trystan may need extra assistance or accommodation. Khristina also realizes there will be obstacles along the way if people do not understand the purpose of his canine companion. However, Khristina feels these hurdles will be an important experience for Trystan to learn how to advocate for himself at all times. “The dog is going to give him the courage to be able to advocate for himself because he has his best friend with him at all times,” says Khristi-na. “Sometimes it’s hard to advocate on your own but if you have support with you, it’s easier.” Khristina also points out that the guide dog will be the constant com-ponent in Trystan’s life, so when he’s going through a transitional period, whether the transition is at school or at a job, the dog will be one thing in his routine that never changes. His parents hope the dog will give him con-fidence where ever he goes and aid the social anxiety associated with As-pergers. “When you got Aspergers, and you got to go order up in McDonald’s, you’re like, ‘I don’t want to do this, what if I screw up?”’ explains Trystan, “I get nervous a little bit.” Khristina and Chad have the same hopes for Trystan as any parent would; they want their son to have an independent, fulfilling adult life. Trystan’s parents wants the same opportunities to be available to Trystan as any other young adult, and they know there is no reason Trystan can’t have a bright future, enhanced with education and marriage if he so choos-es.

The family has had a long journey, but Trystan is finally on on the way to getting his guide dog. The family had applied to several different guide dog foundations, and while they were waiting to be assessed by a Canadian foundation, an American organization in North Dakota called Great Plains Assistance Dog Foundation Inc. contacted the family to say they were accepted. Unwilling to risk rejection from the Canadian com-pany, Khristina started the process with Great Plains. And though $ 15,000 seems like a hefty target to reach, the Lawless parents know a price tag can’t be set on their son’s future and indepen-dence. Khristina is already impressed with the community’s support, in-cluding the pancake fundraiser and donations from the Lions of Mary-field and the District Lions club. And because Khristina says she doesn’t like to simply ask for money, she’s decided to hold the raffle draw. She is also selling pet bandanas and reusable shopping bags made out of puzzle piece material, which is the national symbol for Autism.

“Before we even knew he was Autistic, I’ve always said it’s like a puzzle to put together,” explains Khristina, “and we’re trying to find the solution. But I’m missing some of the pieces. Then when he was diagnosed with Autism, I found out the national symbol of Autism is puzzle pieces in pri-mary colours!” “I think the dog will be a key component to filling in some of these missing pieces,” says Khristina, “for our family, for Trystan, and maybe even for the general public.”