From the Washington Post… -John
By: Ranit Mishori
One of the least fun moments I recall from my years of growing up with an autistic brother was when he bit me on the cheek — just in time for my class photo. I was 12 and he was 11. I went into school with visible bite marks, and when they sat me in the chair for my solo shot, I told them that the cat had done it.
That’s one of the bad stories. As for a good one . . . um, to be honest, I have a hard time coming up with much.
I know that people are warmed by stories of siblings who selflessly shower the disabled child with love, attention and support. I think that’s great, too. And it’s for real for some siblings. But for many of us, relating to a sibling who is on the autism spectrum can be complicated. The challenges to a warm, close relationship are many. Normal sibling rivalry doesn’t work, because it can never be a fair fight.
Read the rest here…
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I have just read this article in The Press, Christchurch, NZ(Thursday Sept 13th). Thanks for your brave and candid honesty. I have an autistic son and older and younger children. I plan to let my 14 year old daughter read it in the hope it will help her deal with some of the issues she faces.
Abuse of autistic people reaching epidemic level on USA. Every parent must prepare for day autistic children turn into adults and are still needing 24 hours care: Here’s one story that is gaining national coverage into the perils of finding safe home health support for autistic adults.
http://www.cbs8.com/story/19604621/2-men-accused-of-abusing-autistic-man-plead-not-guilty
http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/09/27/caught-tape-autistic-man-allegedly-abused-caregivers
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1209/27/ddhln.01.html
http://joashline.com/2012/09/video-autistic-man-abused-by-caregivers.html