Join me as I talk with Keith and Melisa Nellesen about their journey with autism. Melisa’s mother’s instinct told her from day one that something was wrong when Cole failed his hearing test as an infant. As he rolled into his toddler years she noticed that he didn’t engage with other kids, but preferred to be alone and not make eye contact. When Cole was 2 years old, Melisa acted on her concerns and took Cole to be tested and discovered that he was autistic. It was a devastating diagnosis leaving both Keith and Melisa scrambling to find the resources he needed. Intensive early intervention helped him to speak and function at a low functioning level. Cole’s sensory challenges with restrictive clothing, loud noises and physical touch made church attendance painful, which led them to make the difficult decision to not have their son attend church and be at peace at home. Keith and Melisa had to face the sobering reality that their son was never going to check all the standard church boxes of serving a mission, going to college and getting married in the temple and face the fact that you can do all the right things and hard things still happen. Their experience inspired them to create the Melisa Nellesen Center for Autism at Utah Valley University, which offers community education, professional training, college and life skill coaching for autistic adults, as well as free resources to offer hope and direction to parents who are searching for answers about how to help their autistic child.
