What group?

[Guest guest]

Hi :

"Some" in the adult community that make families feel if U do not embrace and nurture autism you are abusive and trying to make your family member into someone they are not and oppose any type of treatment or therapy and are against anyone saying anything negative about anyone with autism as they they it represents them as well. Lack of TOM.

I feel totally like Helen that many of these books that are written addressing AS/NT issues are geared towards the NT population are self help books so the NT has a better understanding and more tools in their tool box to make an informed choice and help make their families run smoother. These books are targeted towards families dealing with family members that are stuck or in denial and do not target those that like Edgar wrote, autism, living the good life who lead by example. There are tons of success stories that the NT population celebrates and learns from every day like on ASPIRES where we might not always agree, but agree it is OK to disagree and learn from others perspectives.

Families look for answers and our caregivers. Not all, as you work in family court and I am sure have a zillion stories of dysfunctional families that do not have AS in them?? It is not the label, but bad behavior that drives families into support seeking answers. Families who seek support and answers are committed to making their lives better as well as their loved one with AS.

My AS son was placed in alternative education for 5 years because I loved their philology on diversity and they loved, embraced and nurtured him in his early years. That was my choice as I wanted him to understand he has AS but he wears the mask and the mask does not wear him. I wanted him surrounded by adults and kids that embraced him and saw what an incredible kid he was. It took years of therapy that he fought for him to say, "I finally get it and thank you!" It was not his autism we were trying to fix but the bad behavior that might of ended him in the criminal court system. Cass is Cass and some call him the Caster. He is a loving young man and a product of Early Intervention. He will always have AS, but there is certain behavior in our society that is and should be unacceptable.

I feel that some who have spoken out regarding AS/NT relationships have taken a hit and have been seen as abusive to "some" in the adult autism community at times. That is "my" issue and not yours. If no 2 with AS are the same how can anyone say anyone with AS would never do this with out understanding their life?

We all make choices, some good and some bad which is how we learn. You have made a choice in your marriage which is one I made years ago. If I can go back in life it would be one choice I would have done differently for my own reasons. I hope your choice has a happy ending.

My family today? We are good and it has been an incredible journey. Maybe if I knew years ago what I know now, it might of prevented us from stepping on every land mine in front of us. But looking back, we can laugh and say, "it is not where U start it is where U finish." and baby, we have all finished on top!

We will continue to move left and right and up and down. We will face every turn in life and know it is OK because we have "us". Life is not easy, but as long as we have "us" to bounce off of we will always have the BEST of the NT/AS world and who can ask for anything more?

Like Helen said, there are others out there less fortunate and I feel that is the target of books like this.

Just my personal opinion.