Autism Awareness month

April is Autism Awareness month! Please take a few minutes out of your day to read a bit about this spectrum of disorders. There is so much more to them than "Rain Man". I know that's what most people picture when they hear "Autism". There are many different forms of several different disorders on this spectrum.

I once had it explained like this...
Autism is like a double rainbow. The bright inner rainbow is your basic Autism disorder. One end is the mildly affected person the top/middle is the moderately affected and the other end is the severely affected. The second, less visible, rainbow is for the other Austim disorders like Asperger's Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). This rainbow is marked the same way...mild, moderate and severe.

My DD is somewhere in the mild to moderate category. To look at her you'd never know there were any issues, to speak with her you think...Albert Einstein, then as you get to know her you begin to notice the differences. Some people say, "brat" or "needs better discipline". Her teachers are fond of "she should know that". My response to that is "she would if you'd take the time to TEACH HER-which, by the way, is what you are being paid to do". I've gotten so discouraged that my tact is gone after 7 years. I try to remember that each year is a new set of teachers and I let them form their opinions before I make known what the school & co-op don't. They have a special needs child in their class. I frequently hear things like "she's too smart to have anything like that". Ummm, maybe they need to read up on this stuff again.
I'm getting so tired and frustrated with this fight.

At least they don't fight me with her brother. They're quick to give him whatever I ask for. I guess the fact that he's so obviously physically and mentally delayed that they can't deny it is in his favor. That would make our school system look really bad. It's such a shame that they deny children like my daughter and another of her classmates any help and services even with diagnoses from expert physicians. It does such a disservice to them and our area.

I'm asking that you, please, read up on the different Autism Spectrum disorders. Maybe you will look a little differently at that child who's having a melt down in Kroger or a tantrum in WalMart next time. We aren't bad parents, we do provide discipline for our children but sometimes we have do deviate from our regular schedules and these little ones just can't handle that. Bear with us and please don't judge...you may not have all the information to make the right judgement.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aspergers-syndrome/DS00551
www.autismspeaks.org
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm