Misha Inspires Mom to Advocate for Others

Long before Angela Brandt became President of the Ontario Autism Coalition, some 16 years ago, she was a first-time mother taking in the diagnosis that her baby boy Misha was autistic.

“It was devastating,” remembers Angela. “The psychologist gave Misha a diagnosis of severe autism and told me that he may never speak. She told me that he may never be potty trained. And worst of all, the final thing she said was he may never recognize me as his mother.”

Like many of the parents she has helped over the years, Angela first started to feel like there was something amiss with Misha’s development around 12 months. As Angela recalls he had some skills. He could wave, he had good eye contact and appeared to be engaged. Those skills began to disappear. 

“Misha no longer waved and barely acknowledged other people,” explains Angela. “While I was a new mother, I knew children should progress, not regress so I took him to his pediatrician at around 13 months. The pediatrician told me that I was wrong and there was absolutely nothing wrong. I went back two months later with more concerns, but I was told again that he was developing as expected. I continued to press the matter and it felt like an appeasement when he finally agreed to schedule an assessment.”

Angela was told the wait time for an assessment was about a year and a half with an even longer waitlist for access to services after getting a diagnosis. Within a month of her last visit with the pediatrician, she made her own arrangements to have the assessment done by a private psychologist. She suspected it was autism all along. 

“The only thing I knew about autism was from my first-year university psych class and the movie Rain Man,” says Angela. “I’m a researcher, so I did a lot of reading and learning. I read that early intervention was key and I thought to myself ‘I can’t go onto a waitlist,’ which is why we met with a private psychologist. 

“It was a strange moment when the psychologist gave me the news. On the one hand, I wanted her to be wrong, but I was a little bit relieved too now that he had been given a diagnosis. Now I could do something about it. It was actionable.”

The day after the diagnosis Angela went to work, but she just sat in her chair and cried the whole day. She blamed herself. She wondered if she did something wrong during her pregnancy. She felt misplaced guilt. Not to be deterred, Angela set to work on finding a private therapist to help Misha.  

“We began ABA therapy with Misha around 21 months because everything I read said that early intervention was the key to success,” explains Angela. “Gosh darn it I was going to provide it for him to the best of my ability and you know I hired a senior ABA therapist who came into our home day in and day out. It was the best decision I ever made.

“In the beginning, we were working mostly on communication and engagement. We started with sign language first because he wasn’t just non-verbal, he was like completely mute. He made no sound. It was because of ABA that he made his first sound and truly learned how to communicate with us.” 

In those early days, Angela would still cry a lot wishing to hear her son call her “Mama.” Angela recalls with joy the first time Misha asked for a little toy helicopter that his therapist used in their ABA sessions. 

“It felt like a miracle because I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God we can communicate,’ like he can tell me things,” says Angela.  “Signing and asking for that little toy helicopter was huge because I never knew what he wanted before. We then started using bubbles. He would sign asking for bubbles. It’s funny now. I remember those early days blowing the crap out of those bubbles because he loved them so much. Interestingly, it was Misha who phased signing out himself in favour of verbal communication.”

Thankfully, today, Misha in many ways is your typical 16-year-old boy. Angela says everything she was told in terms of his prognosis was completely wrong. He can read and he can write. His math skills are amazing.

“And he definitely knows me as his mother because the kid won’t stop asking me ‘Mom, buy me this Mom, please Mom,” laughs Angela.

“If it wasn’t for ABA, I don’t think my son could communicate. I don’t think my son could go to school. He plays hockey in a special needs league. He also skis with the Special Olympics. None of this would have been possible without ABA as the foundation for all the skills and knowledge he has gained thus far. His life is better and richer. He is a super happy kid because he’s doing the things he loves, but he’s only able to do those things because of early intervention.”

Her son’s diagnosis led Angela on a journey of self-discovery and advocacy. She recognized that the public system was very complex and difficult to navigate.  As a result, she devotes time to assisting people in her community to navigate the system.

“My heart breaks for all these children who can’t access therapy,” says Angela. “My husband and I were able to provide for Misha because we had good incomes. My son is no more deserving than any other child.  I’ve seen what ABA did for Misha and other children should have the same access to therapy.”

Angela hopes her advocacy makes a difference in the lives of families living with autism, not only by directly assisting them, but also by inspiring them to advocate as well.