graduation!

Well, no question here, just a comment!  My Karlie will graduate from High School this spring!  For all you mothers out there just finding out, or struggling through the difficult diagnosis, hold your head up high and fight like hell!  We have been through the flames believe me.  We have moved to 5 different states, 7 schools, and very few social friends.  Karlie's diagnosis was slow in coming as most of you can attest to in the early 90's.  Not many kids were being seen with this disorder.

  I just hope she gets across the stage without taking her clothes off....HAHAHAH  
Molly

[mjthewriterdad]

mazel tov!  Each state.school distrct is annother fight !  Some are better than others.  

U gotta be on them constantly and be a mom form hell.   But it pays off.  

Now u gotta look forward to transition services, school to work programs, section 504 co-ordination,   Vocational Rehabilitation, COP (or CIP or section 8 HUD whatever they call it now), bus service and ADA.

[MJIthewriter]

Congrats :)  I'm glad to hear. I remember graduating high school. Some people in my past never thought I would get that far. I feel like making a :P at them.  I made that hurtle. The next hurtle is trying to live adulthood with autism... It's a bit more challenging than one may think... I think beacause people know about it affecting children but under the misconception thinking it goes away with age. It doesn't.

[lillymay41]

No it does not go away!  Good for you for trying to get that message out!  Someone the other day was suprised that my daughter was so old...I told them this was not chicken pox, it does not go away!  DUH....................

[mjthewriterdad]

Reminds me of a deaf adult as a guest lecturer at a special school for children with hearing impairments.  These children were sooo accustomed to only being around other children.  They mostly had and having hearing parents.   The adults they had contact with were all hearing/speaking.  Well, they were never exposed to any deaf adults untill this adult  guest lecturer came into their point of reference.

One child signed "you mean I don't have to die when I grow up?"  This child was never introduced to any adults with hearing challenges.  

Maybe parents try to "protect" their children from exposing them to adults with similar disAbilities in a false hope that maybe their child's diAbility  will go away.   Maybe it's a form of denial, I dunno. What really needs to be done is to introduce their children and help them into a community.   After all, what better advocates exist than others like themselves?

When my daughter was a child, I went to a lot of autism conferences and persons with autism were the guests.   These conferences were mostly about Neuro-typicals trying to figure out autism.  Not much help to persons with autism.  For heavens sak, these persons knew themselves, they needed to figure out the NT world.   Also, these conferences were usually at some autism-hostile envionment like a hotel, with some kinda dinner with strange food and some kinda networking event, having to sit thru some keynote speaker guy yabber about irrelevent stuff .  Then participants are herded like cattle to breakout sessions with no real time to just sit and re-group.

The most valuable thing I did for her was to take her to a conference for and by autistics.  It was about self advocacy, forming communities, service animals, the ADA, and figuring out the NT world.  

One guy stimmed on basketballs and asked everyone their birthday in spanish and it was okay.  Another guy tossed magnisium into the campfire and it was okay.  My daughter flew around like a bee with a video camera and it was okay.   She explored a wasp nest and it was okay.  We saw a cat wander around with a potato chip bag the cat wandered into, and got  it stuck over his head and it was okay.  They can participate in a discussion, and/or wander into another discussion without judgement.  

This was the most valuable thing I did for her.

[lillymay41]

We take a very different approach with Karlie.  We do not treat her like a person with autism.  We do not attend the lectures or the classes, no OT or Special Ed.  We do most everything under handed.  May not be right for everyone but it works for Karlie.  We work with kids with disabilities as a family on a weekly basis.  We take field trips that enhance  the senses. And we have two other very aware children who pave the way for Karlie.  It works for our family very well.  Karlie holds an after school job and will be going to College in the fall.  
Last summer I took her to Temple Grandin's farm to meet the great Autistic Speaker one on one.  Karlie was amazed at the level of Animal sensory and now wants to be a VET.  The road we pave for the future is all dependent on the level of commitment you want to spend.  Karlie will be a very aware adult, maybe a little on the "strange" side, not following in the footsteps of the typical adult.  But she will be an active member of our society.  I really can not say that about some typical people I know...HAHAH