macromedia plug-ins - OT: autism

[Julian Opificius]

On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 19:32:30 -0500
"James A. Ricken" <jsac346@vfemail.net> wrote:

> Julian Opificius wrote:
> 
> >Asperger Syndrome (aka "High Functioning Autism") is just one color
> >on therainbow of autism.  It's only considered a disability because
> >people these daysworry more about socialization and being
> >"touchy-feely" than they do aboutgetting good grades and finding a
> >cure for cancer.Bartok, Mozart, Einstein ... you'd be among the best
> >:-)Oh, and it's hereditary - both my sons have it too. That' how I
> >found out Iwasn't "just wierd".Ultimately, it's just "normal times
> >10": nothing to worry about.Good luck in your discovery!
> >  
> >
> >> <>I also have a son who is fourteen years old with High Functioning
> >> Autism.
> >
> He is a brilliant kid.
> I just wish that the teachers in his school cared more about him and 
> other kids like him.
> Some of the teachers in his school have took classes on autism,but
> some of them still act like they don't care!
> We live in Haysville, Kansas
> A small community on the outskirts of Wichita.
> As far as education for autistic kids in the school ,it could be loads
> better.
> Jim
> 

I feel for you. We're in Elk River, Minnesota, and our school district
have been remarkably good so far - nothing short of wonderful, in fact.
My sons are 10(5th grade) and 7(1st). We've been very lucky getting
programmatic support for the older one, who really broke ground for AS
support in his school. (It doesn't hurt that he's as charming as
his ol' man!) We've been checking out middle schools carefully, as
things get tougher there. The little one started at the same elementary
as the older one. We expected things to be OK, but though he's a
wizard at computer games he had trouble finding his way to class
(they're all different, AS kids!), so we moved him somewhere else, and
he's really happy now.

My advice: demand service from your school district, and be prepared to
take a very pro-active role in building the system - later generations
will benefit from it. Personally I'd be prepared to move if my kids
weren't getting the support they needed. It is actually fortunate we
moved from Racine WI five years back, because the support here is better
than it is there.

The great thing about Aspergers/HFA (same thing) is that intelligence is
at or above average (as you know), and by very nature of that
intelligence kids learn to adapt as they move into adulthood - it's just
the social pressures of the teeen years that make it tough for a while.
You must fight hard to keep their self respect high and not let them
think there's anything wrong with them - there isn't. it's just that
their mental wiring is biased toward intellectual processes rather than
social processes. It's a strange and sad phenomenon of contemporary
culture that high intelligence is not respected like it used to be. That
is not a good sign for a continuing American technical dominance.

Good luck.

-- 
julian.