In 2003, Hawaii filmmakers Don and Julianne King noticed a change in their son, Beau. Although he was a happy baby, when he was 2 years old he started acting differently. Beau avoided eye contact with his father, started losing his ability to speak, and his motor skills regressed.

Beau was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. While seeking out the best doctors in the nation to treat their son, his parents documented their family struggle.

Autistic children are generally misunderstood. They tend to keep to themselves, avoid eye contact and sometimes fling their hands. They are quiet and are not socially interactive.

Radford High School is home to a handful of autistic students. “;Out of the autistic students at Radford, the average person would never know they are autistic,”; said Lisa Johnstone, a school counselor.

Autistic children are hypersensitive with their five senses. Since they do not process things the same way others do, their senses are assaulted all at once. They get overwhelmed by colors, noises and smells, which can be frightening for them.

Autistic children react to seemingly normal conditions differently. For example, when a normal child hears a fire engine approaching while on a walk with his mother, the child will look at the fire engine and then instinctively at his mother. When he realizes that his mother is not alarmed by the fire engine, ordinarily the child will relax in his parent's calmness and will continue walking.

On the other hand, if an autistic child hears a fire engine, the child will see a big red block charging at him and is faced with whether the object will harm him. Looking at his mother will not help him determine whether he is safe, because autistic children do not catch social cues.

Sometimes they do not even acknowledge others' presence. They seem to be in their own world, ignoring everything and everyone around them, sometimes fixated with staring at something for a lengthy amount of time.

They oftentimes experience developmental delays, most commonly in their speech. They usually cannot express themselves, nor can they make a sentence by age 3.

“;It's not wrong. It's just a disorder,”; said Tera Gallaway, a social worker specializing in autistic children for the state Department of Health.

Beau is now 8 years old. “;He's progressing extremely well because of the intelligent doctors and therapists,”; said his mother, Julianne King, in a telephone interview. “;He's going to Lanikai Elementary School. He's doing very well.”;

Beau started seeing a therapist who at first worked every day for about a week just to get Beau to sit down with her. He is now slightly more sociable, and he communicates much better.

Every autistic child learns differently. “;Some autistic children are motivated by food,”; Gallaway said. “;So, to teach them, we use food. We put a Skittle in front of a red square. Then, in order to get the Skittle, they must be able to point to the red square, but it's pretty much robotic. They don't remember the color; they remember the red square. That's how they learn.”;

In most cases, autistic children are also mentally retarded. However, there are cases of brilliancy. There is one autistic child in Minnesota who can recite pi out to 100 decimal places.

Another problem for parents is finances. The average cost of caring for an autistic child in a lifetime is $3.2 million. Although insurance usually covers autistic treatment, every state's coverage is different. Hawaii gives an autistic child $75,000 in services annually for people 21 years and under. This includes unlimited visits to an autism service provider, provided that the child is diagnosed by a doctor, psychologist or therapist.