[kj] OT Autism

Brendan bq at soundgardener.co.nz
Sat Aug 25 00:35:59 EDT 2007


Twitcher really cracked me up Wady =)


> <html><div style='background-color:'><P>My Mrs to be is in her 40's and

> doing a phd, but she stims and flaps, and wears earplugs in the

> cinema.&nbsp; I stim too.&nbsp; It never ends.<BR><BR>Isnt it significant

> how many Gatherers have responded to my little disclosure?&nbsp;

> Cool.&nbsp; </P>I think KJ loving parents will make good Aspie parents

> too.&nbsp; A certain anarchic open mindedness.<BR><BR><BR>

> <DIV>

> <H6 align=center><FONT face="Verdana, Geneva, Arial,

> Sans-serif"><STRONG>Keep Smiling...</STRONG></FONT></H6></DIV>

> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT:

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> FONT-FAMILY: tahoma,sans-serif">

> <HR color=#a0c6e5 SIZE=1>

> From: <I>"T.B." &lt;Partyslammer at socal.rr.com&gt;</I><BR>Reply-To:

> <I>"T.B." &lt;Partyslammer at socal.rr.com&gt;,"A list about all things

> Killing Joke (the band!)"&lt;gathering at misera.net&gt;</I><BR>To:

> <I>&lt;fbc at 21ca.com&gt;, "A list about all things Killing Joke (the

> band!)"&lt;gathering at misera.net&gt;</I><BR>Subject: <I>Re: [kj] OT

> Autism</I><BR>Date: <I>Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:12:39 -0700</I><BR>&gt;"Frank

> Coleman" wrote:<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt;It's important to remember that

> Autism is a spectrum, which ranges <BR>&gt;&gt;from being

> "high-functioning" -- e.g., barely discernible from

> <BR>&gt;&gt;non-Autistic people -- to having to be institutionalized for

> life.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt;My 17-year-old stepdaughter has Asperger's

> Syndrome and goes to a <BR>&gt;&gt;mainstream school in NYC, oriented

> towards performing arts. My <BR>&gt;&gt;wife teaches drama to Autistic

> kids for a living

> and has worked <BR>&gt;&gt;miracles with her and

> others.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt;Here's a terrific article on what

> Asperger's is like, from a recent <BR>&gt;&gt;article in The New

> Yorker.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt;http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/20/070820fa_fact_page?printable=true<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;I

> just caught this thread amidst my tons of mail. My 10 year old <BR>&gt;son

> is autistic.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;My wife and I are fairly well involved in our

> local community of <BR>&gt;autistic families and so we've seen pretty much

> the entire range of <BR>&gt;children and young adults who suffer from it

> from kids that are in <BR>&gt;their teens and a very low functioning with

> a lot of social issues <BR>&gt;who basically sit at home with violent

> tendencies who'll be forced <BR>&gt;to live in assisted medical care

> housing for the rest of their lives <BR>&gt;when their parents die to

> children who

> you'd never know they had <BR>&gt;autism but have perhaps minor problems

> integrating around other kids <BR>&gt;and are exceptional with certain

> fields like math and science.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;Really, no two people

> suffering from autism have exactly the same <BR>&gt;issues which is also

> why it's so hard to treat.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;Our son falls kinda in the

> middle of the spectrum. He started out <BR>&gt;when he was born a

> perfectly healthy, happy baby in '97 and by about <BR>&gt;18 months, he

> was just starting to talk like any typical baby his <BR>&gt;age. At that

> point, he had his MMR vaccines and got very sick for <BR>&gt;two days,

> something our doctor said was "normal" in many cases. <BR>&gt;Within a few

> weeks, we noticed he'd stopped talking altogether and <BR>&gt;was crying a

> *lot* and was starting to walk on his tippy-toes like a <BR>&gt;bird. At

> two years, he still was not talking and

> exhibiting more <BR>&gt;autistic behavior like flapping his arms when he

> was excited and we <BR>&gt;were becoming very concerned. We had to go

> through a lot of <BR>&gt;bullshit to get a referral to see a neurologist

> who knew right away <BR>&gt;our son was autistic. Once we had a diagnosis,

> it opened up a lot <BR>&gt;of doors to get in-home therapy which is by far

> the most important <BR>&gt;thing for a young autistic kid - parents need

> to get on the ball as <BR>&gt;soon as possible.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;We also

> worked at his disease from a medical standpoint, having a <BR>&gt;lot of

> tests done through several doctors here in the US who were <BR>&gt;and are

> known as cutting edge in treating the problem. Once we <BR>&gt;established

> possible causes (high mercury content in his bloodwork, <BR>&gt;so-called

> "leaky gut" issues) with various drugs and a strictly <BR>&gt;controlled

> diet we got at least

> his physical issues under control <BR>&gt;which theoretically aided his

> brain and body to develop as best as <BR>&gt;it could through his early

> years. Through his first few years in <BR>&gt;school, we fought hard with

> the local school district to get the <BR>&gt;services he needed and should

> have had access to according to state <BR>&gt;and federal laws. We wound

> up suing and winning against our school <BR>&gt;district which although

> cost us well over 125 thousand dollars, our <BR>&gt;son received and has a

> great school program with an appropriate <BR>&gt;classroom and classmates

> and a wonderful full time aid.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;He still has a very long

> ways to go but we're getting there. On the <BR>&gt;surface, he seems like

> any other kid his age. But he still has <BR>&gt;significant sensory

> issues, he has to wear earplugs just to go in a <BR>&gt;movie theater and

> is deathly afraid of

> butterflies(!). That's the <BR>&gt;toughest thing about autism from an

> outsider's point of view, is <BR>&gt;there's very little logic or patterns

> to and autistic person's <BR>&gt;problems and

> behaviours.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;He can't be "cured" but our goal is for him to

> be able to work and <BR>&gt;make his own life in society independently of

> anyone else long after <BR>&gt;we're

> gone.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;T.B.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;_______________________________________________<BR>&gt;Gathering

> mailing

> list<BR>&gt;Gathering at misera.net<BR>&gt;http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></div><br

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