Opelika mother enlists public's help in making her son's 18th birthday special

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer - 5/30/2017

May 29--Two years ago, Luanne Helms wanted to make her son's 16th birthday extra special by asking people from all over the country to send him cards. She never would've expected over 2,600 of them to show up in her mail box.

"That is one of Jake's favorite things to do every day is go check the mail, he loves it," Helms said. "When he has mail of his own, it just brings that much more joy to him. That's why I do it."

When cards started arriving for his birthday in 2015, Jake was overwhelmed at first but then grew super excited, Helms said. One day, he received over 600 cards and had to enlist the help of his family to open them all.

Helms, of Opelika, now wants to top that record for her son Luke's 18th birthday on June 4.

Jake has non-verbal Autism which means he cannot speak, but he has made great strides in speech therapy, can spell and is very self-motivated, Helms said. He also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.

Helms has been homeschooling Jake for a little over a year and in that time, he's gained five grade levels. He functions around a 5th grade level, but that can go up or down depending on the subject.

"He's learned 35 states, he can tell you what the planets are, he can tell you who George Washington is, the White House, Mount Rushmore," Helms said. "He's learned to add this year and for me that's a pretty big deal."

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Jake Helms at Joni and Friends Family Retreat at Camp McDowell

Luanne Helms Contributed photo

He uses a device called a "DynaVox Maestro" to string together words that are then said aloud. Language is the main thing that can frustrate Jake because he has a lot of say but can't verbally say it, Helms said.

"He is very fast," Helms said. "He can move pretty quickly through (the DynaVox), so that shows you like when we speak it just comes out. He's got everything in there, he just has to be able to access it a little differently than speaking."

Helms knows they might not reach the amount of cards sent in 2015, but she still does the project because sees the joy Jake gets from it. She's operated a Facebook page called "O Town Jake's 18th Birthday Club" for the past two years and updates it throughout the year with what Jake is learning, what he's up to and places he's visited. Helms said it's also served as a platform to raise awareness for Autism and a resource for parents of Autistic children.

"He is doing awesome," Helms said. "Jake has met and exceeded all of the expectations that I had for him and I'm one of those that never says never. There's nothing that he can't do, it's just going to be in his time."

Lauren Gorla: 706-571-8647, @gorla94

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