Meet The Dunn Family- Justan, Alicia and Odin

BY CHRISTINA MCGAIRK • PHOTOS BY 21VINES PHOTOGRAPHY

In February 2019, Justan and Alicia Dunn brought a precious little boy, who they named Odin, into this world. Although he had a brief stay in the NICU, he was otherwise a healthy baby boy. It wasn’t until around 13 months when Alicia had a feeling something wasn’t quite right about her son, “My little guy that had been eating everything, I mean everything- pasta, meat, bread, seafood...you name it he ate it, stopped eating and slowly started excluding foods,” said Alicia. “Odin also had about 10 words including a couple of animal sounds and he woke up one day and stopped talking.”

She brought her concerns to her pediatrician at the time but felt like she wasn’t taking her concerns seriously. So, her husband put on his researcher hat and found Riley Children’s Health Pediatric Gastroenterologist Dr. William Bennett MD.

They scheduled a virtual appointment because of the COVID pandemic and once the day arrived, Alicia said she finally felt heard. Dr. Bennett prescribed Odin an acid reflux medication and at their next appointment, referred her to First Steps, Developmental Pediatrics, and Sleep Psychology. He also brought up the topic of autism.

“I said,’’ Wait, what? Odin doesn’t have autism. He does have words and expresses emotion. Dr. Bennett kindly explained to me how expansive an autism diagnosis is and then it all started to make sense. If it wasn’t for him, I have no idea where we would be today. I’m forever grateful to him and that he listened to me. He didn’t just “hear” me, he listened,” Alicia said.

Odin was later diagnosed with autism and a global developmental delay shortly before his second birthday.

During this span of time Alicia, originally from Texas, left her job of 10 years to care for Odin and her elderly grandmother, who raised Alicia along with her grandfather. Her husband, originally from California, eventually lost his job as a massage therapist due to COVID and they faced many hardships. Yet, good things eventually got better.

The Dunn family ended up moving to Westfield where Odin had more children to play with in the neighborhood. Alicia, who likes to consider their place as “the fun house”, a bubble machine, sidewalk chalk, and water table can be found. Odin enjoys playing outside with his friends, but he also builds with his Legos, playing with his dinosaurs, and he loves his superhero figures. His favorites are a tossup between Batman and Spiderman. The Dunn’s also added two Goldendoodles, Peanut & Graham, to the family much to Alicia’s geriatric mini–Schnauzer Bella’s chagrin.

Life began to improve for the couple individually as well. Justan has finished his bachelor’s degree in Accounting (June 2022) and is pursuing his master’s in data Analytics. Justan is a Financial Business Analyst for American Lawn Mower Company. Alicia is a Underwriter IV for Cuna Mutual Group working remotely full time and I’ll also still be hustling for my Odin’s Treasures business.

Odin, now 3, is currently. Odin receives ABA here at home only. He’s no longer in developmental preschool. It was not a good fit for us. He’s gained more working with his ABA therapists here at home than he did in developmental preschool. He also receives occupational therapy with Children’s Theraplay and LOVES it. He swims with Ms. Allison at Stony Creek Swim Center where he’s been since he was 5 months old. And he also receives feeding/ speech therapy with Ms. Tara at Riley Outpatient at IU North. Unfortunately, he’s still enduring feeding issues and hasn’t gained weight in the past 6 months. He’s currently on an appetite stimulant and his parents give him Carnation Instant Breakfast for caloric content. Sleep has also been a major hurdle, which he has a specialist for. But on the upside, Odin is talking more and is saying 3-word phrases. “His favorite one right now is “Leave me alone”,” laughed Alicia.

Through all the ups and downs the family has faced, Alicia is just taking it one day at a time. “Our days are busy and exhausting with Odin’s and mom’s doctor’s appointments and Odin’s therapy, but our days are also filled with love and laughter,” said Alicia. “Just like everyone else there’s good days and bad days and we’re still working on figuring out the sleep piece, but we have a great team of doctors working with us to figure this out.”