by Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Mar 13/98) - As 12-year-old Bradley Elkin runs around the Ton of Fun amusement centre, he blends in with other kids his age.

He laps up the fun in a rubber-ball room: jumping around, scooping colored balls into the air and tossing them around with the other kids.

At that moment, he looks like an ordinary youngster. But Elkin is different.

He is autistic, meaning he has difficulty understanding rules other kids instinctively follow.

"It's difficult being the parent of an autistic child," mother Lynn Elkin says. "You explain autism and other parents say, 'Oh it was like that with my child,' but he takes it to a whole other level."

Just then Bradley runs in.

"The machine that counts the tickets is broke," he fearfully and almost panic-strickenly calls out. "It's not working."

That one little example of easy excitability gives a glimpse of what it is like to be autistic.

"That's him when he's in control," says Elkin.

The film Rainman presents an accurate portrayal, she says, as Bradley is bright and has an almost unbelievable memory.

Like the Dustin Hoffman's cinematic character who recites the phone book from memory, Bradley can remember the name of every child in every class he has ever been in.

He can also recite all places the family has visited on holidays and when.

But he has "zero" social skills according to his mother.

Zero may be a generous assessment, given how Bradley is violent toward both his mother and grandmother.

"He beats us up," Elkin says.

To handle him, she tries to give him "time-outs." It's a degree of tolerance and acceptance not all parents of autistic children exhibit. Some find it easier to endure denial over the condition.

"When you have an autistic child, it's like if you were planning to take a trip to Italy," Lynn says. "You read and pack accordingly but then you get a trip to Sweden."

Bradley does not know what he wants to do when he's older and his autism will always be a hindrance.

There is no cure and if he ever does go on medication, he could be dependent on the drugs forever.

Stanton Regional Hospital plans to bring up a speech pathologist in April to help autistic children, however.

And there are meetings for parents and children -- one was held March 10 -- to discuss common problems and solutions.