We talk About Autism.

More than one well-meaning person has said this to me. Having autism, living with ANYTHING, does not equate to a bad or naughty child.

No child, no person, should have to be in such a bad place before receiving help. Nor should there be a blatant severity threshold to receiving help.

Jeanne was triggered beyond management and then punished for her meltdowns by adults.

When I say meltdowns, please think of uncontrollable responses/behaviors during a time in which a child is not able to cope with their surroundings etc.

Well, to me, those are bad adults. We adults, all humans, need to actively widen our perspective and slow down in life to model, encourage, and praise coping skills that will change the game for our kids, heck, OURSELVES!

I’d started talking about our experience early on. You know, when someone asks “how you are doing?” and everyone says “oh, just fine?” I stopped saying fine. I still do not. It’s one of the first things I changed in order to get help, or find someone who knows someone. That’s when these “not that bad” statements would surface.

Yes, Jeanne IS fine. There is ZERO “wrong” with her. Our Jeanne is artistic, linguistic, in love with nature, and passionate for physical movement and imaginative play.

But force her to lie still and remain quiet next to bins of toys and not play? Not her fault. That’s an adult’s error.

Next, throw in a caregivers who don’t know Jeanne or already labeled her as trouble? That’s ensures disaster. That makes a problem.

After receiving appropriate therapy over the summer, other professionals would use Jeanne’s progress against her: “Jeanne’s doing great! She won’t need any services after her current therapy plan ends.” As if every issue, worry, or sensitivity of Jeanne’s would be magically cured!

The world needs to know that an individual lives with autism their whole life. Just like the waves of good times and bad times, new unsolved problems arrive with new life circumstances for people with autism.

Jeanne was doing great because she was at the peak of receiving services! She had appropriate supports. That is the time to ensure services, not remove them.