Autism in the Family
October 5, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Charlie’s an only child and we’ve plenty going on: In Michigan, the Johnson family have four daughters, all of whom are autistic. An article (dated January 28th) in MLive.com describes the family and each daughter. The Kirton family have six children and all are autistic. “Autism X 6,” a documentary about the Utah family, recently aired on the Discovery Channel; at the Autism Bites blog, John Kirton explains why they decided to be in the documentary, to put his family “out there,” and how “the average Joe out there has NO idea what it is like to raise children like we have.”
I know of one blog where a Mom is raising three kids on the spectrum and today found one where parents have five kids and all on spectrum (not the same family from GMA years ago) and the Mom is pregnant. YIKES. I wonder what happened to the family from GMA? I have an article with links, time for a google search as it is the easiest way to find older articles I wrote.
I found the familyfrom GMA in 2005 who have five kids and did Extreme Makeover Family Edition. The O’Donnell. Interesting that they live in Austin, texas the same location that is filming the HBO movie on Temple Grandin. Oh and there were only 2 comments on the GMA article,unlike 2008 when there are hundreds of comments on autism stories and many are negative.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/MedicalMinute/story?id=1040687&page=1
My husband and I have 5 children – 3 from his first marriage and 2 from ours. Of our 5, 4 have autistic spectrum disorders – my stepsons have Asperger’s and my daughters have high functioning autism. My stedaughter has ADHD.
So when people say that autism isn’t genetic (and I’ve had a number say that to me) I have to just smile. At least in our case, I’d say the evidence is pretty strong.
A Mom who is a parent of triplets, all with autism, writes on my blog that she is blessed. I am humbled by her tenacity.
I must say I am grateful that only one of our quadruplets has autism. Depending on the level of the disability, autism can drain your life. I too feel lucky because our son has grown and progressed.
These two very different scenarios might defy the genetic component, however I do believe too the research, that it runs in families. How and when the percentages increase in one family will be investigated by SCIENTIFIC research.
We feel pretty blessed. Our kids are high functioning and have good language skills. We’re able to provide a safe, comfortable home for them and to meet their needs with the help of our community (respite is a wonderful thing). We’ve had hardly any problems with getting services for our two youngest and we’ve always had good, accommodating teachers for our older boys.
So in light of that, we can deal with meltdowns, peeled wall paint art projects (Mom! It’s a flying (insert animal here)! – Meg is very into animals, so if she has to peel the paint, at least she’s being creative), dirt eaters, stinky teenage boys who don’t quite get the importance of personal hygiene (God help their teeth), and all the other average, everyday behaviors that come hand in hand with raising autistic kids.
siliconmom,
People often say some of us are chosen for special challenges. You certainly provide levity for an overwhelming circumstance. Your children are lucky to have you as their mother.
xRobin