Speaks: “What Trait…” Part II
July 14, 2009 by Jeff Stimpson
Filed under Health
Image: jarcaj, Panoramio
Comments continue to come in to the forum-posted question, “What trait of your autistic child would you like to see more of in yourself or in others?”
“His honesty,” said one respondent. “The ability to be oblivious to the judgment of others,” said another. “His determination to succeed,” added another. ”The belief that everything is awesome and that the world is a wonderful place (it scares the hell out of me!)”, replied another.
“Absolute acceptance of everyone without regard to age, race, social status or cultural differences!” said another parent. ”Being joy-filled regardless of the situation,” said another. “My son is happy to have food whether it’s a steak dinner or hot dogs with macaroni and cheese; happy to have clothing whether from Gap or Wal-Mart; happy to hop in the car and go with family and friends whether it’s an old clunker or a Mercedes. He is constantly enjoying the moment. It’s beautiful!”
Amid continuing responses to “If could say one thing to your relatives about your autistic child, what would it be?” came, “My father is an engineer, and he (and my mom) tackled it as an engineer. Went off and learned everything about it he could. Then came to the behavior sessions, the OT sessions, and became involved. He learned to love and
appreciate my son how he is, and never really looks at how he isn’t. So the one biggest thing I would say to parents: ‘Get involved. If you don’t, you will never know your grandchild, and that would be a damned shame.’”
And another one arrived in response to “What’s the smartest thing anyone ever said to you about your autistic child?”: “From our developmental psychiatrist shortly after we received the autism diagnosis for our (now 6-yr old) son: ‘The diagnosis label is a tool. It’s a gateway to services. Forget about autism. Concentrate on what he needs: behavioral support, OT, socialization skills, speech therapy, etc. You focus on the label; labels get ripped off and thrown away. They don’t matter. What’s inside the package matters.’”
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Pfizer has begun work on drugs to treat autism.
