Accidental fire adds to burden of family that has helped son deal with autism

Nov. 30--When Brandon Christopher was 18 months old, friends convinced his mother to take him in for a series of tests because he seemed to be developing at a slower rate than most infants his age. He wasn't walking yet and he wasn't responding properly to certain types of stimulus.

The tests came back positive: Brandon, the doctors said, was autistic.

Growing up was tough. Verline Van Lowe, who herself suffers from a bipolar disorder, shuffled her child through several schools. First it was the Easter Seals Academy for autism in Miami. Then, on to Miami to Miami Lakes Educational Center & Technical College. Finally, three years ago, Brandon graduated from a virtual high school called Georgia Connections Academy.

After graduation, Brandon and the rest of his family -- Van Lowe, his sister Renae Christopher and Brandon's stepfather, Roger Boucher -- returned home to South Florida after a brief period in Georgia.

Though Brandon developed friendships while growing up in Miami and Georgia, he always felt somewhat out of the loop.

"I always felt that it was, maybe not a kind of isolation, but a feeling of loneliness in my heart," said Brandon. "I always felt like I truly didn't belong."

All along, Christopher, who is now 21, had been receiving therapy and being prescribed more and more drugs to handle his depression and other mental disorders. By the time he was cut off from his mother's Medicaid last month, Christopher was up to eight different pills a day. So far, he said, he's made do with the extra pills he had, though they will run out soon. He said he misses his therapy sessions.

"It was nice having someone help me through my issues," he said.

But it was a month earlier on Sept. 11 when tragedy struck. About an hour after Christopher finished grilling some sausage on the propane barbecue on the family's North Miami-Dade apartment patio, some towels he had thrown in a garbage can erupted in flames.

As the flames grew, Christopher ran into the home to retrieve what he could, called 911 and pulled a fire alarm in the complex. Then the propane tank exploded, tearing into the apartment through his sister's bedroom. By the time the firefighters doused the flames, almost everything was lost. All the family's clothing and their furniture, all appliances and electronics, even books and jewelry and a treadmill melted or were burned to ashes in the heat.

Van Lowe said she received a call from her alarm company about the fire, then quickly called her son. It rang three or four times, but there was no answer.

"I was freaking out," she said. "We lost everything. I was keeping myself from crying."

Now, somewhat grudgingly, the family is asking Miami Herald Wish Book readers for help. Though the family was able to move into and furnish a new apartment nearby with the help of insurance money, that money ran out, they said. So they still need clothing and electronics.

"Everything I ever owned, my clothes, a laptop, are gone," said Renae Christopher.

Said Van Lowe: "I'm grateful for anything."

And Christopher said he was mostly lucky, the only thing he lost of significance he said, was his PlayStation 3.

"I'm thankful I was the only one there at the time of the fire," he said. "Now, I just want to move on past it."

Wish Book is trying to help hundreds of families in need this year. To donate, pay securely at MiamiHerald.com/wishbook. For information, call 305-376-2906 or email wishbook@miamiherald.com. (The most requested items are often laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans.) Read more at MiamiHerald.com/wishbook.

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