dad, Paul Lambert. Like all new parents, they marvelled at the life they had created together and took delight in his initial progress.

With time, however, they noticed that developmentally he seemed slow for his age. He sat up and crawled later than average and did not walk until he was 21 months old.

In terms of language, he could say "dada'' and "mama'', but at 18 months lost speech altogether, so their paediatrician recommended that Cire m see a speech therapist. By age two there was still no progress, so the paediatrician then recommended that the parents take their son to the Children's Hospital in Boston for evaluation. The little boy was autistic.

"When we got the diagnosis last May we were relieved because then we had something to work on and knew where to start,'' Miss Furbert relates.

The couple were told that Cire m needed at least 20 hours of speech therapy a week and to get him into a behavioural programme known as "applied behavioural analysis'', which is used extensively in the United States to teach autistic children how to learn.

"In the US they do this 40 hours a week one-to-one,'' Miss Furbert explains.

"The children do specific learning skills, and as they learn they are scored.

They have to get to 80 percent of learning a specific task to have mastered it and move on to another skill.'' When the couple returned to Bermuda with Cire m they discovered that while therapists here knew of the programme, there was no-one who dealt specifically with behavioural therapy.

"A recommendation was that Cire m have a one-on-one person with him in the nursery,'' the working mother relates, "so Paul and I had to hire a teacher's aide. Her name is Lakeisha Smith, and she is a godsend. She had just graduated from college with a psychology degree, and part of her work release experience was in an autistic school, so we know that in nursery school he is taken care of, and he is definitely getting something out of it.'' Cire m also undergoes speech, occupational and physiotherapy and is showing progress over last May. He now makes eye contact, is more animated, and also more "verbal'' although he does not yet have discernible language.

Known as a "low tone'' autistic, the child doesn't like to use his body, so his muscles have to be trained to do the right thing. Left to his own devices, he would simply lounge around.

Like all parents of autistic children, Miss Furbert and Mr. Lambert have had to learn not to anticipate and fulfil Cire m's needs, but to make him try to express them himself. Autistic children are also very crafty, so once someone gives in to them on something they rapidly learn that is the route to getting their own way the next time. This can lead to conflict on the simplest things, like dressing and undressing, bathing, feeding, and getting to school, so Miss Furbert says as parents they have to be firm and go against their natural instincts at times.

"It takes a lot of energy to keep on track,'' she notes.

Both parents have full-time jobs, so between their 40-hour weeks and the demands of caring for Cire m, they rarely have time to relax. Nights with autistic children are invariably disturbed, and Cire m doesn't go to bed until 11 or 11.30 p.m., otherwise he will wake at 4 a.m.

"I rarely sleep,'' Mr. Lambert quips, "I think I have been preparing for this all my life!'' "It is hard work, and a continuous cycle that never slows down,'' Miss Furbert adds. "I try to relax on weekends, but five days a week is very strenuous.'' Nonetheless, the couple truly love their son, whom they say is "a funny little boy, and a wonderful character with a beautiful personality'', and they are willing to do whatever it takes to help him progress. They have taken courses abroad, and share whatever they learn with Miss Smith so that she can follow up on it.

Asked what the worst part of having an autistic child is, Miss Furbert answers: "Not knowing what he needs. He can't tell us and we can't read his mind.'' HEALTH HTH