TOWSON, Md. — In the Khan household, every little milestone is worth celebrating, like their 10-year-old son Azeem, who has autism, learning how to answer yes or no questions.
"Now he aggressively tells us no with an attitude and I just love that he does that to us," said Fauzia Khan, Azeem's mother. "That’s a huge jump [for him] to even answer questions."
Azeem is mostly non-verbal and communicates using a device or with a few words. Fauzia says the progress he's made since being diagnosed with autism around the age of 18 months is in part due to good schools and good therapists.
"I think all of that put together and then obviously Mom and Dad, and then family on top of that, is the support," she said.
"When you have the understanding of your peers and people around you, it just makes it a lot easier and that really helped," said Asim Khan, Azeem's father.
Another big milestone happened this summer when the family flew to California to visit Fauzia's parents. She said before COVID, flying was very stressful for Azeem. This time, she made him a social storybook of their journey.
"I took pictures of the airport and our layover and wherever we were going, and he did amazing," Fauzia said. "It was a game changer for me for sure. It felt like a huge weight off my shoulder and now I can go visit family and not have to worry about him."
And the Khan family will celebrate another year of Azeem making progress and strides when they gather at Towson University on Sunday October 30 for the Autism Speaks walk.
"The walk is a huge thing for us, we look forward to it every single year," said Fauzia. She said they make t-shirts, have sold baked goods to raise money and are usually one of the top fundraising teams at the walk.
They credit Autism Speaks for guiding them in the right direction and connecting them to therapists for Azeem.
"There are resources out there and Autism Speaks definitely sets you up on that path for that," said Asim.
"I try to invite parents of newly diagnosed children to come and join so they can meet other people, register for the walk and get one resource, Autism Speaks, under them so they have somewhere to go," Fauzia said.
The Khans admit that when they first got Azeem's autism diagnosis, they were scared and in denial. But they put one foot in front of the other to give him the best life possible. Now, they are encouraging everyone put their best foot forward at the walk to support their son and Autism Speaks.
"Its just a great space to come out and have a good time with other families that are basically in the same situation that you are in. Not a bad situation, a good situation," said Fauzia.
The Autism Speaks walk is Sunday October 30 at the Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University. Registration is at 9:30 a.m. and the walk begins at 11 a.m. For more information, click here.
WMAR is a proud sponsor of the event.
