On Autism

I work in human services. It can be a challenging job, but amazingly rewarding. Mostly I work with children that have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and provide a stimulating environment that is enriched with love and care. There are many details of my job that I wish no one to experience but I understand what has to be done in order to provide support for these children that do not see the world the way 'we' do. I have only been in this field for about a year and I feel like I have so much to learn. Every new client I get feels like the first day of work, every time.
When I am out in public with these children I am judged by passer-by's who think I am a lazy, inconsiderate parent that does not care for her child. I have had people (that do not know me or my client) come up and say what an awful a parent they think I am.... when I'm on the ground restraining a 'tantrum' child who has thrown their shoes, socks, pants, shirt and toys in protest to something I nor he have any control over. Just a few days ago I was with a 6-year old client who was showing very aggressive behaviour towards me...hitting, punching, head banging against my chest and screaming because he wanted to go a certain route home. This path was under construction and we were instructed to use the other side of the street. A child that has Autism can often feel like they MUST take the same route every single time, no matter what. This situation was difficult because I could not take this child on the exact same route he walks on every day to go home and he was not understanding why, despite my attempt to be as clear as possible; that we were taking a slight detour. Tears, screams, punches and scratches suddenly were all I could see and hear. I could do nothing to help this poor child, or so I felt. He was clearly in distress knowing he could not go the way he felt obligated to. One man, about 55, passed by me with a smile indicating he could relate to me as a parent and said "Don't worry, the tantrum stage will pass". Another woman stopped and condescendingly suggested I treat the child less forcefully (I was restraining him from his violent outburst and from running onto the busy street). The two people in this example assumed I did not know what I was doing as a 'young parent' and I felt quite frustrated. Usually I would not tell these people that my client has Autism but I was having a rather tough day with his behaviour so I let it be known. In both cases, the individuals immediately apologized and felt sympathy for my situation. The woman even asked how she could help! Amazing the turn-around in their perspective, huh. Now, in my moment of reflection I'm not quite sure how I feel about revealing a diagnosis to gain understanding or acceptance from people who are not informed. There seems to be a split with my co-workers: some will never, ever label the child as disabled because there are many ways in which the child is capable of a normal life, there just happens to be some areas in which they are different. On the other hand, many would reveal a diagnosis at any time and in any situation because it raises awareness about Autism and is a small but significant way of lifting stigma. For the most part, I agree with the latter. I am an advocate for Autism awareness because the behaviours are often mistaken for bad parenting styles. What the public sees is an out-of-control child with a mother or father who does not know how to discipline or love their children. This is clearly not the case. Autism is a term describing impaired social interactions in a person as a result of  faulty neurodevelopment.You often cannot tell a child has Autism because there are no distinct physical characteristics that denote the disease (whereas Down's Syndrome or FAS does, for example). You can pick up typical behaviours like hand flapping, solitary play, short attention span and fixation on objects or ritualistic behaviour but sometimes you don't get the chance to observe a child for long enough to spot these. It  also is difficult to identify and treat Autism because each and every person with Autism expresses it uniquely.

There is an interesting article I recently read on treating Autism with nutrition. What an incredibly simple, natural idea! I am going to devote much of my time researching this and will probably write my next blog on the reasons why we should be initially treating people with Autsim with food and steering away from medication.  I hope this has evoked some different perspectives on exceptionalities and maybe even some challenging questions in response to my written down thought. Regardless, I hope you have found this beneficial to your day and beyond.