Jason Etheridge doesn’t hide his emotions when it comes to his 5-year-old son.

Etheridge fields a call while delivering to Kapstone.

While taking a van load of barbecue sandwiches to Kapstone today he choked back tears when discussing Cole’s progress in overcoming autism and his hope for his son’s future.

“People always want their kids to be doctors and lawyers,” he says while driving the van. “With autism, I want him to grow up and have a family. I want him to be a normal, contributing person in society.”

The tears Etheridge chokes back come from the hurt finding out his son had autism, he says. “I want him to make decisions without them being made for  him. It’s the hurt from it all. The autism broke my heart.”

Despite the pain, the child’s progress has been remarkable since the initial diagnosis.

There was a time when Cole didn’t talk, didn’t want to play with toys. “He was in his own little world. He had digestive issues and behavioral issues.”

Since learning their son had autism, Jason and his wife, Heather, got him therapy, changed his diet and his immunizations.

He has had Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy and today’s fundraiser was for a second round of therapy called brain balance.

A Kapstone employee picks up sandwiches.

It is a therapy that children who are ADHD, autistic and dyslexic can go through, Etheridge said. The assessment has given the family a look into their son’s world and they have found the left side of his brain his stronger than his right. “When he runs the whole world bounces. He doesn’t know where he fits in a room.”

Through this therapy the Etheridges have learned Cole’s speech is age appropriate. He no longer talks in childish gibberish but speaks in complete sentences. “His awareness of the world is greater.”

Cole is currently passing his kindergarten classes and at the end of the school year the Etheridges will evaluate where he stands socially. “They say he is at his grade level as far as academics.”

Paying for the second round of the brain balance therapy was the reason for today’s barbecue sandwich fundraiser at ProBuild.

Mike Clark and a crew of volunteers cooked 750 pounds of barbecue and made 40 gallons of cole slaw to go on 3,000 sandwiches. With scores of volunteers donating bags and gas to cook, Clark said the fundraiser would not have been a success without the people who bought the lunches.

“Mike loves his friends,” Etheridge said. “He’s a good friend who’s helped a lot of people. It’s a real wonderful gesture for him to do for others.”