Quote From: moogie1955I have a 21 year old autistic son and have thanked God for such a beautiful gift, for me being chosen. I am not saying there were not times of hopelessness and despair while seeking professional help. In the mean time, I starting realizing people, places, decor, lighting, food would over stimulate and escalate the outrageous behaviors. There censors & tactile are violated to the extreme of being in shear pain. At no time did I ever give him the power to run my home, I would lay across him to decompress him while applying presser to his shoulders.........this would allow him to cry something they need to be taught. Basically, an autistic child/adult can be taught to love, cry, laugh, it is a matter of taking time to teach these children every step of a normal life. Divorce becomes a high rate, as the mother fights for her child and the father becomes lost and confused. My son, graduated in 2005 from a High School adaption, uses the public transit system, works full-time at a dental lab, handles his own bank account, pays bills and my next step is get him into his own place. All theses steps took a lot of time and the help from our Autism Resource Center. Have goals and expectations for your child and together you'll achieve. People loss sight of this and teach the disability.
Marlene (Canada)
I am so happy to hear about your son, he sounds quite successful, and I wish him nothing but success in the future.
I know that your post was written with good intentions, however, you must be careful when using blanketing statements and examples of your son in describing autism. It is unfair to say "an autistic child/adult can be taught to love, cry, laugh, it is a matter of taking time to teach these children every step of a normal life." As the mother of a person with Autism, you should know that Autism is a spectrum disorder, and for those on one end of the spectrum, teaching those things is not necessarily possible.
I am not trying to make you feel bad, I'm just asking you to please be sensitive because there are lots of people out there reading these boards, who may have a child who is not doing well. For that person, reading what you wrote might make them feel like a failure because their child is severely affected by the disorder and they have not been able to "teach them to love" although they have spent a lot of time and energy trying.
