By Guy Page
Katie Asher, founder of Asher House and the mother of an autistic son who did not have a reliable way to communicate until he was nearly 22 years old, will be the guest on “Chronicle Conversations” on WVMT Thursday, Sept. 3 at 12:30 PM.
Asher will speak with Vermont Daily Chronicle editor Guy Page about her family’s experience with autism, the breakthrough that allowed her son Houston to begin expressing his thoughts, and her work helping other families facing similar challenges.
Asher is the mother of five grown children and says her experience raising Houston led her to establish Asher House, which serves individuals and families affected by autism and seeks to provide support and solutions for the challenges they face.
For much of Houston’s childhood and early adulthood, Asher said her greatest wish was simply to know what her son was thinking.
“When people would ask me what I wanted most in life I would shoot back, ‘I want to know my son! I want to know what he thinks and feels!’” Asher said.
That changed when Houston was almost 22 and began learning to communicate using letter boards. After several months of work, he was given a lesson about the history of the T-shirt and asked what slogan he would put on one if he could choose anything.
Houston slowly spelled out five words: “I M IN HERE.”
“And hope began,” Asher recalled.
Asher said that experience became the inspiration for helping other parents discover that a child who does not communicate through conventional speech may still have thoughts and feelings they are trying to express.
“You cannot begin to understand how much joy I receive when a parent realizes there is hope to hear their child’s thoughts after years of never hearing a word,” Asher said. “And I get to relive the greatest day of my life over and over again through the families I serve.”
Asher describes herself first and foremost as “MOM,” but also points to her Christian faith, family and desire to bring hope to people dealing with what she calls the unseen “WHY ME?” bombshells of life.
The Ashers’ story inspired Katie to write “The Book of Heaven: A Story of Hope for the Outcasts, the Broken, and Those Who Lost Faith”. What began as a family’s struggle with disability has become one of the most talked-about—and scientifically examined—cases at the intersection of neuroscience, consciousness, and faith.
Houston’s condition left him unable to speak or control his body—but with extraordinary cognitive and perceptual abilities that stunned every professional who encountered him. His case has since become the subject of major scientific inquiry, a new national documentary, and season one of the hit podcast The Telepathy Tapes—which reached #1 on Christmas Day, surpassing even The Joe Rogan Experience.
The interview with Katie Asher will air on “Chronicle Conversations” at 12:30 PM Thursday, Sept. 3 on WVMT AM 620 and FM 101.3.
Vermont autism rate slightly lower than rest of the U.S. – Compared to the rest of the nation, Vermont has a slightly lower rate of autism and somewhat higher outcomes in education and employment training – but lower outcomes in actual employment, according to the Autism Speaks “Autism by the Numbers” Vermont report.
The 2024 report shows that Vermont parents reported that 2.1% of children had autism, compared with 2.9% nationally. More than half of Vermont diagnoses — 55.1% — were made by specialists, considerably higher than the national figure of 32%. The average age of diagnosis was 4.9 years, identical to the U.S. average.
Education outcomes were comparatively strong. Autism accounted for 8.2% of Vermont students receiving special education services, versus 12.2% nationally. Just 1.3% of Vermont autistic students received a suspension of at least one day, compared with 5.3% nationally. The diploma rate was 81.1%, well above the national rate of 72.4%.
Employment outcomes were less favorable. Among autistic Vermonters ages 14 to 64 applying for vocational rehabilitation, 88.4% received VR services, compared with 79.9% nationally. But only 38.8% of those receiving services were employed when they left the program, compared with 49.2% nationwide. In other words, Vermont was comparatively successful at getting people into vocational services, but less successful at producing employment afterward.