spectrumom

When oldest boy was diagnosed with autism, lo these many years ago, my feelings were hurt. Actually they were shredded into tiny bits.  There were no guarantees that he would ever talk.  There was no idea of what his potential was.  There was no knowledge of what kind of behaviors we would face. There was no guarantee of how this would also affect my second child I was so obviously pregnant with in that exam room. Who we now know is even more affected by autism than his brother. When I sent him off on a school bus at 3 years of age, when we had wanted to nurture him at home, my feelings were hurt.  Seeing my baby get on that bus tore me to pieces. When we couldn't get physical or occupational or speech therapy at school or our community, except as a lame excuse for an aide, my feelings were hurt. When there was no ABA available , and I bought books and set up my own therapy, my feelings were hurt. When a kindergarten teacher told me she had taught an au...

I've been reading this really excellent book about adults with autism by Nancy Perry.   It's taking me a very long time to read it.  Not because it's obtuse or technical.  Really, it's very readable.  Lots of interesting stories to highlight her points. No, it's taking me a long time to read it, because at the same time that I'm learning, I'm being forced to face a reality that I've managed to ignore. At almost 15 years of age, Sam has very major executive function deficits that he may or may not ever be able to deal with independently. Each EF deficit can be broken down into hundreds of practical skill sets that can be taught.  For example, we can teach Planning, Sequencing and Organizing for hundreds of different skills.  Following a recipe, taking care of an apartment, getting ready for school or work, writing a paper, shopping for groceries, personal hygiene.  The list goes on and on and on.  And it changes with each new phase of ...