Autism: Is it devastating?

I used to work in housekeeping at a place that housed autistic children. It was a school for them to learn to adapt to their surroundings. My sister worked with them one on one and helped alot of them overcome some of their challenges. I'm not sure if I find it to be a disability or not. Some children come overcome the challenge and some of them are very smart.

Well i say that you are right! I am happy that you can see things as they are...Anything that others do not understand they classify as devastating,thats just the way people are..Its the same thing with it comes to downs syndrom,these are the most lovable and sweetest people,and others look at it as a bad disease but you are right,it is not something we should judge if we have never experienced it..I do not know a lot about autism really but i do know that they are smarter than me in lots of ways....I saw "Rain man" and he was so much smarter than i am,and had a lot better memory..Thank you for your Post..hopefully it will shed some light on the subject of autisim.............

I think it should still be considered a disability. They need extra help, and if they don't consider it a disability, it will be really hard to get the help for them.

My wife has Asperger's, a form of autism. I married her because of it, not despite it. Your statement about being able to do things better than a "normal" person is exactly correct. It is no more a "disability" than a hangnail is.

As the woman with Aspergers' that Vladilyich was speaking about when he replied to this discussion, I have to agree with both of you!!!!

I have been able to do things that baffle most people, from having the guts to jus get up and go when I wanted to, no being influenced by other people's worries, to having a remarkable musical talent that most just don't understand.

A minority? Hmmm.... I'll have to think about that one. Isn't that just jumping from the ftying pan into the fire?

I think we need to stop treating people like they are "dis"abled, and simply make the world more accessible to EVERYONE, whether it's putting Braille on money for blind people, to haveing signs that light up for the deaf, to better understanding Autism, whatever. It's not that we need to be classified as disablied, it's that te rest of the world needs to get over it's ignorance.

Right on! I also have an autistic son and my feelings are the same as yours. I notice some things that my autistic six year old son does better than his 14 yr old brother that doesn't have autism. You are so right when you say they can actually do some things better! The problem is people don't understand.

Actually, I think autism can be devastating. From the sound of things, it seems like you have a son who is higher functioning, like my own child. I can certainly understand though, how a family with a severly autistic child would be devastated by it. As for just listing autistics as a minority instead of disabled, I don't agree with it. My own son only receives extra help in school because he is listed as disabled. Believe me he needs the help, the aide, all of it. But if the help was based soley on his total scores he wouldn't get the help he needs. I think it's important to remember that autism is a spectrum disorder. There are people who are severly affected, those who don't talk, or interact with people at all and are still wearing diapers at 15 years old and there are those who are so high functioning, that people just see them as a little odd or socially awkward and then there is that huge space in between.

I also have a cousin who is diagnosed with it mild and can work already now that he is an adult. Although still different from the rest but he can function as normal as he can be. We just have to treat them with the way they are as they would not disturb you in any way. I also happen to have in my sister-on-law's son which is the extreme type. He is non verbal and has difficulty in dealing with him. Although he is taught to make sign language but still he has a hard time coping. He is being taught on a one on one basis as he could not deal in working with other people.

My son is autistic and I agree with you it is not devastating. Yes it was rough at first because we didn't know what was going on until we had him tested and found out what it was. We have had some issues with him that we have had to work through but they have all been taken care of and he is doing very well. He is 15 years old and will be in 10th grade when he starts back to school.

You said that you feel that your son does some things better, I agree with that also. There are times that my son even acts more mature than my daughter who is 21 years old. He takes things more seriously than she does but that is okay. It is okay for my daughter to cut up also.

I don't know if I would say autism is a minority or not. But I do know that more people are becoming aware of this. We had a walk for autism in our area back in April which was a huge success.

Thank you for starting this discussion!!

I'm sorry, I found this thread late, but have to say it's a breath of fresh air. I have two autistic children ages 9 and 8. They aren't disabled, just differently abled.

I think that if you treat a child like they can't do something they never will. My children communicate differently, other than that, they are real people with real feelings and real interests.

I don't coddle them, they have chorse around the house and we work on life skills. I know that there are members of my family that are afraid of them because a meltdown is a meltdown, but in all reality a child will throw a tantrum, it's all in how the parent handles it.

My children ARE special, just like all of my other 5 children ARE special. They are individuals with individual interests and personalities. To not see it, is to deny them as an individual human being.

I hear your voice, I embrace it and want to applaud you for it because I know. I just wish more people did.