4-YEAR-OLD AUTISTIC BOY'S TRAINING WILL PAY OFF TODAY WHEN HE RUNS RACE

Physical therapy assistant David Burke has been trying for months to train 4-year-old Jedidiah Cook for a 5K race, but the lessons have been more about patience and gentleness than Jedidiah's endurance and exercise.

Jedidiah, who has autism, likes to run and enjoys sprinting and quick spurts, Burke said. He enjoys his independence, but sometimes needs someone to hold his hand and run alongside him to keep him focused.

Through his four months of training for the race, Burke said: "I've learned to be gentler and do forward progress so there is not as much resistance. That's what God taught me in the lessons; it's about being gentle."

Burke will run beside Jedidiah during today's race, which begins at 8 a.m. at Mid-America Rehab Center near West Park Mall. Proceeds benefit area law enforcement agencies.

Jedidiah's older brother Jacob will run ahead of the pair for the last segment of the race to help encourage them.

Despite the autism that has hindered his motor development, Jedidiah is physically capable of completing the race, Burke said. And Jedidiah's autism might work to his advantage. "It might be in our favor because he zones out,' and that is what it takes sometimes to be a runner. You can go on autopilot."

For years Carla and Keith Cook of Patton have known their youngest child wasn't developing as he should. He has been to therapy since he was 1, but no one could ever pinpoint his exact problems.

The Cooks were told that Jedidiah had a global development disorder that delayed his activities. It wasn't until last fall that they found out he was autistic.

The news didn't come as a shock. It was actually a relief, Carla Cook says.

"Now we had a diagnosis so we could find out more," she said.

Autism is a mental state in which a person is unaware of their surroundings and environment. In Jedidiah's case, the autism is complicated by another disorder that interferes with his motor skills and coordination: His brain doesn't organize sensory information well enough to get a quick response.

Jedidiah didn't walk until two days before his second birthday. Only recently has he learned to jump. So running a 5K race is a big event for him, his family and therapists.

This marathon isn't just about the distance Jedidiah can run but about what he can accomplish. It's an event he can compete in just like any other child, Carla Cook said.

And just like any other marathon runner, Jed has been training hard. He and Burke have been running during previous therapy sessions and periodically in the city park at Jackson while Jacob takes Tae Kwon Do lessons.

They haven't run together for five days to take a break like any marathon runner would do prior to a big race. On Friday morning the pair worked out in the pool at St. Francis Health and Rehab Center.

Burke said, "This is Jed's marathon." And it is his therapy. Everything, even simple play, is part of integrating therapy into Jed's life.

Putting a shoe or a brush in front of him and asking him to pick it up isn't just a game, it's therapy. A therapist prompts him for a word during a session. At home, his mother, his father or Jacob do the same. Jedidiah has a very limited vocabulary, so speech therapy is intensive.

The Cooks have a room in their house filled with toys and objects that help Jedidiah during his at-home therapy. A ball pit or an activity center bombard him with stimulation that helps his brain. A glowing lamp and water fountain also help create sensory stimulation.

"All this stuff helps his brain," Carla Cook said. When she buys toys for Jedidiah, she often stops to think about how they can help him.

With her knowledge gained from therapists, specialists and other parents, she is learning more about her son's disability.

"Until you have a child with special needs, you don't know what they are going through until you've been in their shoes. It's also helped with my patience," she said.

While it is sometimes difficult to understand why Jedidiah isn't a typical child, it isn't anything the Cooks question. "Sometimes I still cry that I don't have a typically developing child." But she said Jedidiah's disability has "brought our family closer and our relationship to God closer."