Much of this list seems like common sense to me now, but it sure would have been nice to have something this concise to refer to 7 1/2 years ago when Samuel was diagnosed.
Autism: 8 rules for the road for parents of newly diagnosed children
Print this out and post it on your refrigerator! 1) GET HELP. Contact your local regional center and make use of their EXTENSIVE resources that include assessment, diagnosis, referrals and counseling, just to name a few. The...
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I would like to elaborate a little on #8 in the list:
Besides Facebook, find other ways to network with other parents whose children have also been diagnosed with autism. Networking can be in your local area, in your region, or through something on-line like Facebook or blogging. Other parents going through circumstances like yours can be a great source of practical information and support.
8 comments:
I totally agree! I didn't know anyone until recently. Went almost 20 years without support and much understanding. Not even from family or my husband (ex now because he would not accept the autism). My youngest son has Asperger Syndrome and was did not get a correct diagnosis until he was 11. Then it took 5 schools and a move to another state to get him an education. He was 15 already when he started getting what he needed to really learn. It's been a very long road; but he is doing Great now!!! I write about his journey, etc. on my blog too! So glad I found yours! :-)
Hugs, Coreen
Thanks for your comment Coreen, nice to "meet" you! I have met a lot of parents of children with Asperger Syndrom in the past year and I am amazed at how difficult the road can be, often because these children are diagnosed at a later age.. after all kinds of problems have arisen.
I look forward to following your blog. I just took a look and left a comment, it's great!
Thank you for this important blog
Anonymous.. I'm so sorry, I'm new to comment moderating and I accidentally pressed the "reject" button for the comment you recently submitted! Fortunately, I still have a copy of it in my e-mail, so I will copy and publish it. Sorry again!
I heard on NPR (Nat'l Public Radio) that a mom had an autistic child, and she got actors to come and interact with him, do what he wanted to do/be like him, and got him to come out of it (this is ambiguous language because they presented it ambiguously on the radio), but this mother, when her son got better, decided to teach acting to students with special needs once her son got better (I guess), I'm sorry I can't give you much information about this, but I hope you can find information about this on the net or on npr.org, if you want to know more about it, NPR has archives of what they air, however I think that it's hard to find a specific thing that was aired on the radio on the internet, but I heard that program about 1-2 weeks ago
Great list! They should send people home with this list after they fire out a diagnosis.
And online community is vital for the newly-diagnosed.
Thanks for your comment Elizabeth! The doctor who diagnosed my son back in 2003 told me one thing: contact early intervention services. Not bad advice, but it certainly wasn't very complete! Also, in my area, my son had just about aged out of early intervention services. The service I could have gotten was to put him in public school. I was not ready to do that because he was only just about to turn 3.
I would like to think that now more doctors give out a list something like what I posted here.
My son said something really interesting last night. He's 17 now.....oh what a long road it's been! Anyway he said "Mom sometimes I have a hard time speaking and getting my thoughts out because there are a lot of intersections in my mind."
We've done fetal alcohol, abused kids, cocaine babies, but Autism Spectrum is by far the most challenging.
Hey B.D., what a cool thing your son said! Samuel has made a very few comments about what/how he is thinking. I am hoping he'll better be able to express himself as he gets older. Thanks for your comment!
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