Aces For Autism two weeks away; a look at how one ENC family helps their son

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — “He’s happy. He’s such a happy, he sings all the time. He’s very rhythmic. He’s just so sweet. He’s just such a sweet little boy,” Jessica Yates said of her son, Emmett.

When Emmett was younger, his tendencies quickly caught Jessica’s and her husband’s attention and they knew something was off.

“Thrush, hit, kick, bang,” she said. “His head was probably the biggest sign that we knew something was off and that he was nonverbal. I’m a nurse. I was working in the E.R. A three-year-old little boy came from a different demographic background than I did. Smart, could tell, could tell me that he hurt, where he hurt. And like, that crushes you like that. Your kid can’t sit there and say, ‘Hey, Mom, I hurt.'”

Jessica Yates tried to put Emmett in a daycare and was told they couldn’t help her. “When I had him in the daycare, basically, they told me that he was not normal,” Yates said. “That was the only, that was like my pushover point, right? Like that was like, I knew I needed to get him evaluated. It hurt to not know that your kids aren’t normal, but it gave me motivation because I’m a strong, resilient person and like, I know that no matter what, that my kid is going to have what he needs to get through. That’s not the same for everyone. I know that no matter what, that my child, even as unique as he is, it doesn’t change.”

When Yates found out about Aces For Autism, she said they rescued her. “They help me day-to-day. They help me parent my kid. They help me. They teach me,” she said. “Give me resources that I would not have access to if I was somewhere else. They, I mean, honestly, they help me, like, without no questions asked. Like, they provide something that I could have never provided for my kid.”

Every day brings a new challenge for Yates and with Aces For Autism, Jessica has confidence her son will be just fine. “I’m a lot stronger. I have a little bit more faith that, like, even though he’s different, he’s going to be fine,” she said. “As much as I’m living, breathing, he’s going to be fine. And I think that is what gives me the drive and I do have a lot of faith in Aces to help him day-to-day.”

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