General Chat

I am autism. When I come, I come to stay. I take the dreams and hopes of families and trample them with delight. I see the fear and confusion in the eyes of my victims and see the formation of wrinkles, the worries and pain on the face of their parents. I see the embarrassment their child causes because of me and the parents unsuccessful attempt to hide their child, and me. I see tears the parents cry and feel the tears of their child. I am autism. I leave sorrow in my wake.
I am autism. I taketh away and give nothing but bewilderment and loathing in return. I take speech and learning. I take socialization and understanding. I take away "common sense" and, if I am allowed to flourish, I take away all but their physical life. What I leave behind, is almost worse than death.
I am autism. I fear nothing except courage, which I thankfully see little of. I fear those who take a stand against me and attempt to fight me and bring others into the fight as well. I fear those who try to make it safe and easier for my victims in the community, and their families. I fear those who push ahead, despite the fact that I am in tow. I fear the day I will be eradicated from the planet. Yet, I do not fear too much right now. There is no need.
I am autism and I bet you know me or know of me. If you don't, you probably will soon. I am marching forward faster than I ever have before. I am looking for new children all the time. I am looking for new children to consume and new lives to destroy. I dread the day I will be looked upon with pity or worse yet, understanding, for that day, is the day I will begin to die.
But in the mean time I am safe, free to prowl onward. Free to cause the pain and suffering that I do so well. I am on a mission and have much work to do and thankfully no one is stopping me yet.
Hello. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is autism. Perhaps you know me or know of me, if not don't worry, you will meet me soon.
~Author Unknown

I have an adult daughter with Asperger's Syndrome and spend much time campaining for support for these folks and trying to raise awareness of the condition. Cx.

i have a nephew with ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome i cared for him when he was younger to give my sister a break as she has an older daughter aswel,l was/ is very hard work and my hat goes off to anybody who lives with this or someone who has this condition as i believe it is equally as hard on both accounts reading this post bought tears to my eyes as there has not been a truer word spoken

Thank you for posting this Cynthia.
Some of the words reflect what a child of 12 was saying in a television programme last night. It was heartbreaking to watch him and listen.
I don't know how the parents and carers keep going.
xx

Well, now that the Autism Bill has gone through Parliament in the UK and there is an Autism strategy for authorities to follow, we are hoping that many Social Services and allied departments will sit up and take notice. It's always worth looking at the NAS website for more info. Cx.

We also watched the programme on Autism on Channel 4 on Monday night. Never having had had much dealings with people who suffer from this, we were very enlightned, and it was very thought provoking. I put up a thread on Chat about this programme yesterday, but it did not attract alot of response.
The programme was the first episofe, in a series of four, and we have 'marked' this up in the television book, to follow it through.
The 12 year old boy, was remarkable.
Julia in Derbyshire