ASD Persons Need Parent-Warriors-Advocates to Survive Life’s Challenges
Autism comes in many forms, and individuals on the spectrum can’t meet the challenges on their own, but does society realize what they need and provide it?
The first time I heard about a child with autism was from a colleague who had secured a volunteer position at a center for children with disabilities. If anyone had heard about the child's daily experiences, they would have called child protective services immediately.
What was happening in her home? Because of her nonverbal nature and difficulty interacting with others, the parents isolated her in a bathroom where she spent her days shredding toilet paper. There were no toys and nothing else for her. Her family went to work each day, leaving her in the bathroom.
In their culture, it was more than a shame to have a child with such impairments, and they feared becoming pariahs, so they hid her from everyone. Undoubtedly, she had autism, and little was being done at that center because they did not have professionals who could work with her.
Working at a psychiatric hospital, I then encountered an autistic young adult when they brought in a new patient. Strapped to a gurney, he had to be restrained in a special thousand-pound restraint chair in a day room in the hospital.
