It wasn’t until Aiden Fuchs was about 8 years old that his mother says she had a clear picture of how she could help him.

Sarah Ornberg was 24 when Aiden was born premature, weighing 3 pounds, 12 ounces. A “sweet, content baby,” Aiden was diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder that made it difficult for him to regulating his senses and communicate, and caused slow cognitive functioning.

Aiden will be the guest of honor at the Montville Lions Club’s 10th annual 5k race on May 7, and his family will get a third of the proceeds from the race.

Montville’s Social Services Department each year recommends a family to which the Lions donates a portion of the proceeds from the organization’s annual five kilometer race/walk. The race, which is in its 11th year, also serves as one of the the Lions Club’s primary fundraisers.

Ornberg was working in a group home with autistic children when Aiden was a baby, but, she said, she was never told that Aiden’s early problems might also mean he had autism.

“When he was born, they did not say autism,” she said last week in a classroom at the Fair Oaks Community Center, while Aiden, now 13, sat contentedly on his stepfather’s lap. “They didn’t want to put a label on it.”

For years, the family took Aiden to doctors all over the country for therapies that she thought might turn his life around.

“We had taken him to every quack doctor you can imagine to try to get him fixed,” she said, making air quotes with her fingers around the word ‘fixed.’ “This poor kid, if you said it cured autism, he had it done.”

When Aiden started school at Mohegan Elementary, Ashely Ager, the school’s special education teacher, told them that working with Aiden, rather than against him, was what would help the most.

“She kind of said, education’s probably the best thing. It’s not going to be some magic herbal medicine you get from Tibet. It’s going to be just teaching him.”

Now Aiden, who communicated mostly using sign language when he was younger, can speak in full sentences using an iPad program developed for people who need help communicating.

The program is pricey, Ornberg said, and Aiden is constantly breaking the iPads they keep at home.

But it’s worth it, she said. Aiden can use the iPad to make jokes, ask for things or even make fun of his brother and sister, both kids that Sarah and William Ornberg have adopted through the Department of Children and Families.

“He’ll browse the internet, he’ll hunt down the Disney movies ... listen to classical music,” William Ornberg said.

“The adaptive technology allows him to have his sense of humor,” Sarah Ornberg added. “It’s so important.”

Aiden has thrived in Montville public schools, as a student in the district’s Birth to Three program, at Mohegan Elementary, and now as a sixth-grader at Leonard J. Tyl Middle School.

“We’ve purposely stayed in Montville, in our little tiny house, with our one bathroom, just for the schools,” Sarah Ornberg said.

“For Aiden,” William Ornberg added. “One hundred percent love, that kid.”

Aiden will be front and center at the May 7 race, riding behind his stepfather’s bicycle.

The race at Camp Oakdale will be officially timed by Southern New England Road Race officials. Runners or walkers can register in person on the day of the race — $15 for kids and $25 for adults — or online through the Montville Lions Club website at a reduced rate.

m.shanahan@theday.com