WTNH: “Connecticut’s only inpatient juvenile autism treatment facility expanding”
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WTNH) — 14-year-old Ben Ciufolo and his mom Lisa Candera are on a journey. Ben opened up about his inpatient stays at the Hospital for Special Care’s inpatient autism center.
News 8’s Lisa Carberg asked if it helped him.
“I always have my hard days but it’s at a level where it’s manageable because we’re all going to have a bad day. When something really hard happens and that will happen, I want to be kind of like the same… I have all these tools I can use,” Ciufolo said.
Ciufolo and his mom moved to Simsbury where he was acclimating well. But when COVID-19 hit, his behavior and coping skills declined. They starting having trips to a local emergency room in search of help.
That is where Candera learned about the Hospital for Special Care’s Autism Inpatient Unit and got Ben admitted twice. Finally, she felt like the doctors there truly understood their journey and listened.
“I have been put off a lot by doctors saying things like, ‘well, it’s COVID, everybody’s stressed, everybody’s anxious,’ type of thing. He really understood the gravity of the situation and he was ready to act, and it just felt like finally, right, like a big sense of relief,” Candera said.