Three-year-old Damian Clough has no concept of pain. Diagnosed with autism when he was a ten-month-old baby, the toddler bangs his head on walls and throws his toys around with no idea about the effect he's having on himself or others. Now parents David and Julie have converted his bedroom into a padded safe haven for him to play. Isobel Fox reports.

EVERYONE ADORES little Damian Clough. His blond hair, bright blue eyes and infectious smile are enough to make strangers stop on the street to congratulate his mum, Julie, on her little angel.

But Julie knows that behind the innocent smile, there's more to her three-year-old son than meets the eye.

At the age of ten months, Damian was diagnosed with autism.

Ever since then, the little boy's behavioural problems have got progressively worse as he struggles to make sense of the world around him, a world completely alien and removed from his own personal universe, a space he prefers to inhabit.

At three, Damian still has no power of speech. He struggles to make others understand his needs, and becomes increasingly frustrated when they don't.

He also has no real concept of pain, banging himself into walls and doors with no idea of the damage he's causing himself.

But to all intents and purposes, Damian was born a normal healthy baby.

"The only thing we noticed was that he used to scream a lot and he used to want to drink bottles of milk at specific times in the day," says Julie, who is also mum to five-year-old Kayleigh.

"Then, when he was three months old, he developed whooping cough, which was quite unusual for someone of his age.

"He was very poorly and was in hospital for100 days - he was ten months old by the time he'd made a complete recovery.

"It was when he came home from hospital that we started noticing he wasn't reacting to his name when he was called. All my relations kept saying that Damian might be deaf. I was convinced he wasn't and I took him to the doctors to find out.

"The doctor noticed he was drinking a bottle of milk at set times each day - I later discovered autistic children have routines like this they stick to."

After being referred to a health centre, Damian was finally given an appointment at Airedale Hospital, Keighley.

"Within five minutes they'd diagnosed autism," says Julie.

"I was absolutely devastated when I heard the news - it was as if someone had physically taken my son away from me.

"There's all sorts of different emotions which go through your head. I was crying and crying for days, then I became angry, and after that you have to get yourself used to the idea of what's happening."

As time went by, the Cloughs tried to come to terms with the fact they had an autistic son who needed to be watched over and cared for every minute of the day.

At first, the news almost cost Keighley couple Julie, 31, and husband David, 36, their marriage. Neither could talk to the other about what was happening to them. It took them a year to become reconciled and to face the task before them together.

Now Julie and David are both exhausted but determined when they talk about how they looked after their young son in the wake of his diagnosis.

At first, Damian was sent for care at Lowfield Health Centre, Keighley, for two mornings a week.

"But we had great difficulty looking after him for the rest of the time," admits Julie.

"He started to have really bad behavioural problems, such as throwing his toys around and always wanting to be outside even when it was cold. He was also finding it extremely difficult to get along with his sister, Kayleigh. It takes a long time to get used to having an autistic child and it was very hard when he wasn't at school. You can't take your eyes off him, you have to watch him to see what he's doing every minute of the day."

Damian's naughtiness almost ended in tragedy last year had it not been for dad David's quick actions.

The couple were given a specially adapted cot from the hospital with raised walls to make it difficult for Damian to fall out. But the youngster had developed a habit of taking one of his arms out of his pyjama sleeve and wrapping it round his neck. It was on one such occasion that he tried to climb over his cot walls, and would have succeeded had his empty sleeve not got caught on the top of the cot, leaving the youngster suspended by his neck from the side of his cot.

"My husband was disturbed by a noise from Damian's room so he rushed in to find him just hanging there," says Julie.

"Luckily, it had only just happened and Damian wasn't hurt, but I'm just thankful David heard a noise when he did."

The couple demolished the cot, realising that the only way to make the tot's bedroom safe was to clear out the furniture and get padding for the walls.

The only snag was the cost of the project - £2,600. But after months of fund-raising this summer, and with the help of family friends, the couple managed to raise most of the money they needed to transform Damian's room into a "pad".

The couple have been able to raise £1,800 towards the cost of the room, and friend Graham Powney, managing director of Garforth-based Solutions, carried out the conversion, allowing the couple to pay the rest of the money when they can.

Now Damian's brightly-coloured room contains wall-to-wall padding and is full of soft toys. He sleeps on a mattress which can be removed when he wants to use the room to play with his toys.

"The conversion's brilliant and it's done the world of good for Damian," says Julie.

"It's made a big difference to all our lives. And we can worry less because we know he can play safely in his bedroom on his own."

More than two years after he was first diagnosed with autism, Julie says that although Damian seems to have calmed down, the condition itself has shown no real sign of improvement.

"It's as if he's trapped in his own little world," says Julie.

"He's now full time at Braithwaite Special School in Keighley, but as soon as he gets home, it's all hell let loose - he starts demanding something to eat and pulling things off work shelves while I'm cooking. He needs a lot of attention and he always needs a bath at 5.30 every evening.

For now, the Cloughs are taking Damian's condition one step at a time.

Says Julie: "The experts have no idea what to expect from him.

"It's so easy to let him have his own way because every time you tell him 'no' or 'stop' he ends up having a paddy.

"He may never speak at all, and the only way I have to cope with this is to pretend that that's true - that way if one day he does wake up and is able to talk it will be a big bonus.

"The whole thing's turned our lives around completely and we're just trying to take it one step at a time.

"Everybody absolutely adores Damian. He's got bright blue eyes and blonde hair and he smiles such a lot - he seems a generally happy lad.

"People we don't know just look at him and think he's so sweet. Although we really love him, we know otherwise."

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