For Benjamin K. M. Kellogg, crossing the street was a challenge.

Looking both ways was not enough — he had trouble judging which direction cars were coming from and how fast they were going. He couldn’t cross without somebody’s help.

This was because throughout much of his life, Kellogg, 25, didn’t have the depth perception and judgment to do it himself.

The challenge of crossing the street parallels much of what Kellogg has faced throughout his life. Tying his shoes and not being able to make eye contact with others seemed impossible to overcome. Yet with the support of those around him, he felt he could keep going.

“I’ve been able to get a lot of unbelievable things done,” he said. “I remember everything that has gone into that and that motivates me.”

A Mexico, New York resident, Kellogg is one of more than 3.5 million Americans living with an autism spectrum disorder. Autism hinders a person’s ability to do basic tasks, including things like being able to cross the street. In addition to combatting coordination issues, some people with autism face behavioral, speech and social interaction challenges.

After countless hours of therapy and speech, reminders to listen carefully and all the times he’s been told to never give up, Kellogg now finds those tasks more manageable. He has since earned a degree from Cayuga Community College and began a career in writing poetry and children’s books.

April is known as autism awareness month, so in April, three Syracuse-area events will raise awareness for varieties of autism such as Kellogg’s. Buildings in downtown Syracuse will light up in royal blue for World Autism Awareness Day on Sunday. On April 16, the Central New York Autism Society of America will host its 11th annual autism awareness walk.

Throughout the month, Syracuse University Fit Families, a research-based physical activity program for children with disabilities and their families, will hold workshops for parents and their children ages 5 to 10.

Each workshop will consist of five different areas of focus: sensory integration and behavior management communication, motor development and physical activity, aquatic opportunities and sports, said Luis Columna, the program’s founder.

Columna and his multidisciplinary team will provide feedback at the workshops to the families to help them implement what they’ve learned, he said. The team consists of faculty from SU’s School of Education, psychology department and exercise science department.

“You can have a disability, you can have an impairment, but that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve great things in life,” Columna said.

In 2004, autism affected one in 125 births. Today, the probability has grown, affecting one in 68 births, according to the Autism Society of America. Autism Awareness Day was created in 2007 as a way to bring attention to this increase.

Jean Leiker was one of a few mothers whose child had been diagnosed with autism in 2004, a diagnosis that inspired her to start CNY ASA. Now, as a vice president, she’s helped the organization increase awareness and fundraising for the cause.

When parents receive an autism diagnosis for their young child, they may feel isolated from other families and like they’re alone, Leiker said. This led her and her team to promote awareness and serve as “the go-to organization” with the community.

“When you first learn your child has a disability, it’s a tough pill to swallow,” she said. “It’s not what you expect.”

The autism spectrum is broad and varying, meaning that it affects everybody differently, Leiker said. Each person learns and grows in his or her own way and faces their own issues, often dealing with food, sensory, behavior and communication.

It’s why people say, “When you met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”

And it’s also why people with autism and their families celebrate the small things, like making it to the other side of the street.

“I feel my child is who he is supposed to be. I feel he’s not broken. He doesn’t need fixing,” Leiker said.

Kellogg, the writer, has now become a role model for the autism community. He speaks regularly with other disabled people at area high schools, where he usually talks about going to college, writing and how he deals with issues on a daily basis.

Kellogg’s children’s books and poems offer practical advice on how to clean a room, share with others, tie shoelaces and meet friends — all topics that can benefit people with autism. He brings copies of his work to various autism events in central New York.

When Kellogg is on the road promoting his work, his mother Theresa said it gives her hope that people with autism can become more than their disorder, that they can have “more for their lives.”

“He advocates through his books,” his mother said. “For parents of children with autism to see that someone with autism is actually writing, has a college degree and goes out there and promotes his own books, it gives them hope that their own children can eventually go off to college in whatever capacity.”

One of Kellogg’s poems is about all the challenges he faces on a day-to-day basis. All the times he’s been told not to give up. All the times he’s been reminded to make good eye contact. All the times he overcompensated for what he thought were difficult tasks. And all the parents, teachers, family and friends who have shown him the way.

He titled the poem, “For Every Street I Cross.”

Published on March 30, 2016 at 11:32 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21