How do you handle people ridiculing your child with autism?A Story is one person's health experience, often with recommendations.
Here is what one mom of a 22-year-old with high-functioning autism says:I wis...
Convincing People My Kids Have Autism is a Challenge
LauriPerry discusses prejudice against kids with autism in her latest story. http://www.trusera.com/health/stories/lauriperry/prejudice-against-kids-with-autism-it-s-very-real
We have experienced very little of people saying, "We don't want your autistic kids in our program". Instead, the reaction I most often get is "Those kids don't have autism. Sorry, we can't help you." This comes from people who are not qualified to diagnose my children, yet they are capable of closing doors to them based on their own personal biases.
My children don't "look" autistic, these people say. So I ask them, "What do you think autism looks like?" If my children are not sitting on the floor rocking, or spinning, or flapping their hands, they must not be autistic, right? The extreme stereotypes are alive and well.
Who says my kids don't do those things? Just because they don't do them now, does not mean they haven't done them in the past and learned to deal with those sensory issues in another way.
They are still autistic.
My children are verbal - extremely so. They sound like little Einsteins to adults. So these gatekeepers assume my son and daughter are perfectly fine.
Those who have expertise about high functioning autistm and spend considerable time with my two darlings know. They can see past the intellect to the anxiety. Unfortunately, these are not necessarily the same people who are handing out the application forms or making recommendations.
I suppose I could carry a doctor's note in my purse to prove my children qualify to participate in special needs programs. If autism was visible on the outside, there would be no question.
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Comments (4)
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I think it is wrong for people to tell you that your children do not look autistic.You are right to be angry.I have aspergers and it was years before my parents found o...
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Can you hear me say AMEN? You have NAILED it. Even their father, who details all the boys "quirks" and is distressed at them, tells me they are not "autistic", ...
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I agree totally with you. I do still believe my son to have an asd but the health professionals say it is a learning disability. (because he said no to all the questions be...
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I've had trouble with my son's teachers at the beginning of the school year. I call it the honeymoon period. He can control his tantrums and they'll think he's an angel. But if h...
