CLEVELAND — Catt Smith couldn't be more proud of her son, Carter Smith, 4.

“A ball of energy, brilliant, smart, easy-going, never cries," is how she described her son.

Two years ago, Catt noticed her son wasn’t developing as quickly as other kids.

“I noticed he loved things with sound. He loved to bang on things. He loved repetition. He never crowded himself around, you know, people. He always used to just isolate himself and things of that nature," Smith said.

Around that time, a friend showed her a video that explained the signs of autism.

All of this was happening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doctors diagnosed Carter with autism virtually.

“You know, they gave me different activities and things to do with him while they watched virtually and, you know, that’s how Dr. Johnson was able to give the diagnosis. But once he started going in person, they were able to do more tests and more assessments," Smith said.

Carter goes to therapy three days a week at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital for Rehabilitation. He sees occupational and physical therapists and receives applied behavior analysis therapy, too.

“Carter is doing well with verbally stating what he wants with more than one word," Smith read from her binder full of notes from her son's therapists. 

Catt likes to work on what he learns in therapy at home.

She said she is amazed by her silly and happy boy’s progress.

“I go back and I read through these and sometimes I get teary-eyed. And I know that this is still just the beginning, you know, this is just two years later and he’s come so far. So, I can’t imagine what he’s going to be like two years from now, 20 years from now," Smith said.

Before Carter’s diagnosis, she said she really didn't know what autism was.

Now, it’s her mission to spread awareness to others, especially those living in her east Cleveland neighborhood.

“Coming from where I come from, we don’t have a lot of resources in our area and the proper education that we need to even know about this. So, I figured why not start now. If I know something, I could be the messenger or just help somebody, point somebody in the right direction of where they need to be," Smith said.

She said it takes a village, and she is working to create a business called “Our-tysm” to celebrate and support people living with autism.

“The main message is to not be afraid of who your child is," Smith said.

One of the unique parts of Carter’s story is that he was diagnosed with autism virtually. Spectrum News 1 spoke with a behavior analyst at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism to find out more about how a virtual diagnosis works.

“It’s a lot of questioning of the parents. Some observation of core defects and skills. You can have other reports from other providers like pediatricians or other caregivers that can help put all the pieces together. It’s not the first choice that we always have for diagnosing, but it can work in situations when necessary," Behavior Analyst Maureen Intihar said.

Intihar said early intervention is vital for children with autism. At the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism, much of the therapy is play based and focused on social communication and engagement with others.