THE RADCLIFFE FAMILY AND OHANA FARM Until the age of 18 months, Conrad and Amanda Radcliffe’s son Callum was a joyful boy progressing
number of failed educational settings, they found the right educational fit at the Melmark School in Berwyn, which Cal still adores attending. After a number of also failed summer camp experiences, Cal found success at the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support’s summer camp at St. Joseph’s University. On his first day, Amanda stayed in the parking lot all day waiting for the call that always came that Cal was having difficulty and she would need to take him home. That call never came and a friendship with the Kinney Center (and its then executive director Ryan Hammond, now executive director of Eagles Autism Foundation) was made. Cal is now 21 and although he still requires a high level of support, he has come so far. Thanks to many years of schooling by his dedicated teachers at Melmark, home therapies, summer camp experiences at Camp Kinney, and the endless devotion of his
family, he is a happy young man now. Graduate students from St. Joe’s assist Cal at home, and one, Nick DeMaria, has become his devoted housemate and best friend. While still minimally verbal, today Cal has a good sense of humor, loves ziplining, roller coasters, his home, being with friends, and his family. On the family farm, he takes care of the animals, all named from his favorite movies. They also use their apple orchard to run a small apple butter and cider business that offers Cal, and other neurodiverse people, job opportunities. Cal named the farm, “Ohana Farm,” a Hawaiian word from the movie Lilo & Stitch, which means “family”. Cal can say, “Ohana means family, and family means no one is left behind or forgotten.” Through the Eagles Autism Foundation, Cal has had fantastic experiences that any young man would treasure, including photos with the cheerleaders, a
as expected. He reached every developmental milestone and engaged happily with those around him, most of all his two older sisters, Antoinette and Kailey. Within a few months, everything changed, his skills were lost and he became withdrawn, angry, and suffered up to a hundred tantrums a day, often banging his head on the ground. There were many very challenging years for Cal and his family, as their sweet toddler became a withdrawn, violent, and inconsolable boy. Through the development pediatric departments at CHOP and Dupont, the Radcliffes received an Autism diagnosis for Cal. He and his family needed all the help they could get. The Radcliffes found a pediatric occupational therapist, Maryann Brennan, who still works with Cal, now 21, today. After a
With support from the Kinney Center and Eagles Autism Foundation, Cal Radcliffe has made tremendous strides.
2020 Eagles Autism Foundation eaglesautismfoundation.org
IMPACT REPORT
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