Pamplico family raising autistic teen grateful for community support

PAMPLICO — Raising an autistic child never has been easy for Karen Isgett and her family, but they can at least say they have had the support of their community.

A recent national story, however, has shown her that not all families with autistic children have been as lucky.

Karen was disturbed after hearing about a 5-year-old autistic boy in Florida whose teacher reportedly allowed his fellow students to vote him out of the class last month.

“That would have destroyed me as a parent if that happened to me,” she said. “That’s the kind of stuff these parents are going to have to deal with unless they’re lucky enough to surround themselves or find people like I have in this little town.”

Karen’s 17-year-old son, Jordan, suffers from a moderate level of autism.

Jordan, who is non-verbal, always has been embraced by everyone in Pamplico, Karen said.

“He can’t walk in town without somebody (saying) ‘Hey Jordan,’” she said. “Everybody knows him.”

Karen said Jordan has always been well-liked by his peers. It was his first year at Pamplico High School, however, when they really began affecting his life.

Betty Hunt, who led the special needs program Jordan’s freshman year, made it her goal to get other students at the school involved in the everyday lives of the four disabled students in her class.

For Jordan, it was a way to make friends.

“They would make it a point to come in my room and hang out with Jordan and the other students that were in there,” said Hunt, who married Karen’s brother, Mark, a month ago.

As his aunt and his former teacher, Hunt was proud to see Jordan make it through high school and graduate earlier this month.

“I was pretty tough on Jordan,” Hunt said. “There were some days where he would get very angry with me because I demanded a lot of him, but he would rise to the occasion.”

After attending school for 12 years and receiving a certificate of completion from the state, Jordan will continue getting help from Pamplico High through a work program he began when he was 16.

Although he doesn’t get paid, Jordan has been helping out at the local IGA grocery store since his junior year. He started out working occasional 30-minute shifts, and during the summer he has been working as many as eight hours a week.

Jordan will continue the program when school resumes in the fall, and his workdays will be four to five hours, Karen said. Right now, he is supervised by an assistant teacher while at the store, but Karen and her husband, Gary, would like to eventually see Jordan working independently and earning a paycheck.

“For parents it’d be a load off our minds because that’s what you worry about every single day, is what’s going to happen to him,” she said “Is he going to be able to do for himself? Who’s going to be there to look after him? These are all things that are a parent’s biggest fears, and to see him be able to go out and do this, you can breathe.”

Eric Mincey, the manager at IGA, said Jordan’s tasks at the store consist of handling the bread supply, emptying trash cans and tagging items with price stickers. With Pamplico’s population at less than 1,200 people, Mincey said a lot of customers know Jordan.

“Jordan’s a good worker,” Mincey said. “He enjoys his time here. He looks forward to coming, and we look forward to having him here.”

Dawn Johnson, the executive director of the Florence County Disabilities and Special Needs Board, said any type of work experience is beneficial to the growth and development of someone with autism.

“This is just great that they’re continuing to work with him, even though he’s graduated, and giving him opportunities in that community to connect with the people there,” Johnson said.

When Jordan isn’t working at the IGA, he enjoys going to church, playing video games and listening to Christian rock music. He also attends a dance class and takes piano lessons.

Jordan’s best friend, Karen said, is his uncle, Mark Hunt.

“He just loves Uncle Mark and Aunt Betty,” she said. “If he’s not having a good day and I just can’t think of what (will) make him happy, I just say ‘Do you want to go to Uncle Mark’s?’ He’s running out the door before I can get the keys.”

Mark said he and Jordan have gotten along great since he moved to Pamplico from Brooklyn a few years ago.

“What’s great about him is his innocence,” he said. “Here’s a kid that’s purely innocent. If he could lie to you he wouldn’t. He doesn’t know the idea of lying or cheating or talking bad about somebody.”

Jordan’s family sympathizes with the boy who was voted out of his class and with other autistic children who go through similar experiences.

The great thing about Pamplico, they said, is Jordan gets the opportunity to live as normal a life as possible.

“He shines because he comes from a small community,” Mark said. “They know him when he’s walking down the street. They know his name just like they know everybody’s name.

“It’s wonderful being here. Any place else, I don’t know how these kids make it.”