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I have to say that there have been some very cruel and heartless comments on this thread. I am amazed that some people take the opportunity of the anonymity of the Internet to say things they would never say in person.

The children cannot help being the way they are and I would absolutely hate to be in the position of some of the parents having to raise children who will never leave home, nor will he parents ever have relief. It is a very difficult position in which to be.

Some parents, because of their lifestyles have precipitated the problems. Other parents have done nothing to cause the problems.

The parents and children deserve our sympathy and help, not our derision.

Think about what you are saying and the effect it can have on others.

I apologize for the soap box, but my wife dearly loves the children in her special ed class. My heart goes out to the parents who suffer with trying to help their children get through this life.

I am also amazed at the cruelty of other children. I know of one sweet little multiple handicapped girl who is in a wheelchair. The junior high kids push her into walls and abuse her. Where do they learn that kind of behavior?

Certainly, the schools are often lousy in the way they deal with the children. Often children who should not be, are mainstreamed. Other children who need to be mainstreamed are not.

Maybe we need to stop griping and start helping.

Now I am off my soapbox.

Where do they learn that kind of behavior?

Children are natural savages, it is the job of parents and society (in the form of its members adhering to a moral code and perpetuating it) to civilize them. In many cases the parents don't and the society can't.

have to say that there have been some very cruel and heartless comments on this thread. I am amazed that some people take the opportunity of the anonymity of the Internet to say things they would never say in person. The children cannot help being the way they are and I would absolutely hate to be in the position of some of the parents having to raise children who will never leave home, nor will he parents ever have relief. It is a very difficult position in which to be.

Thank you for your post and thank your wife as well. There is a photo of my special little girl in my profile and at 2.5 years old and after 10 months of therapy, she is nearly "indistinguishable from her peers" as her doctors now have stated. I have no doubt in my mind that she will eventually thrive in a normal school setting, possibly as early as kindergarten and become a functional and productive adult with perhaps some "quirks". However, along the way I have met some profoundly autistic children and it's a sad situation. To make such comments without having walked a day in these parents's shoes is plain cruel, as you said. FReepers have autistic children too and none of us asked to be here. Many of us pursue outside private therapy and are not solely relying on the government alone, just to clear THAT up. It's times like these where I think the Demilibs may be onto something when they spout that we conservatives "only care about children when they are inside the wound".