I am the father of an almost-14-years-old autistic boy. This piece really made me cry, and I do not cry often...Autism is an epidemic, and just recently (last 15 years or so) has aggressive diagnosis programs and proper treatments been reaching the public. Our boy is basically a 3 year old in the body of a teenager. And that scares me to death, especially given the high rate of abuse (physical, psychological, and sexual) that handicapped children suffer.
Decades ago, many of these children would end up in a mental home AT CHILDHOOD, dumped by their parents, out of frustration or inconvenience. It was a common diagnosis by “experts” in Neuro-psychology up until the 80’s, that Autism was caused by “frigid mothers”, i.e., mothers whom did not express enough love or gave enough attention to these children. Imagine the damage to the family, the child and the mothers!
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 84% of parents with Autistic children end up divorcing before the child hits the teen years. I can tell you for personal experience, it is the HARDEST job you will ever have, caring for these children. And God bless those teachers and special educators that get paid peanuts at the schools to treat and care for these children and attempt to make them somewhat independent.
Please, if you even suspect something is wrong with a child you have or know-tell the parent!! Look for help immediately! Every day you wait to get help and a diagnosis, is months’ worth of cognitive ability down the drain! Denial will not help. Get help now!