A Father's Perspective on Autism

"Building Greater Capacity Within Our Autism Community." In this blog, I will try to highlight the blogs, products and services with a Canadian, Nova Scotian and local (Bridgewater, N.S.) flavor where possible; in order to help bring together and build partnerships between those persons withing our local autism communities. I welcome the world-wide autism community too join us in discussion as we try to build greater understanding, acceptance and hope for what autism represents in our lives.

Do you see what I see?

Every parent has a uniquely 'different' and equally valid perspective on autism.

Do you see what I see?

In writing this blog, I hope to be able to share some of my experiences as a parent of a daughter with autism. I hope that my story resonates with some readers, provokes discussion and serves to build a greater capacity within our communities to accept, understand and embrace persons with autism for all they have to offer us .............and they have much to offer us, in my opinion.

"A Father's Perspective on Autism," will be my voice for exploring my experiences and those of my family; which are related to our ongoing journey with autism. Please join me in this journey and share your voice with me as well.

"Wretches and Jabberers" Documentary about Autism:

"Wretches and Jabberers"

This documentary represents another step forward in breaking down some myths and stigma about autism. Released on itunes on January 11th, “Wretches and Jabberers” follows two men with autism who travel the world, aiming to shift attitudes about what autism is and is not. It was the men’s own words that provided much of the inspiration to the writers who put together the song track for the documentary.

See links below:

http://wretchesandjabberers.org/larry/?m=201101

http://www.autism-society.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16838&news_iv_ctrl=0

Our Family's Story

Here is a bit of our story....... about how 'autism' became very personal to our family............ I was off work and spending much of my time at home, facing a very different challenge at the time. I was in the midst of what would turn out to be a 2 year battle with cancer. Today I am over 5 years clear of this disease. A battle that, from a parents perspective, seems insignificant when compared to the challenge of raising a child with autism.

At the time of my illness, I was often irritable, exhausted and sometimes filled with despair; which was not the optimal time to rely on your instincts about anything. Nonetheless, my partner and I began to notice a few odd things about by daughters lack of typical development in many ways around the age of 12 months. She didn't play with many toys the way other kids her age did. She walked alot on her tippy toes. She stared off into space and seemed as if she didn't hear you because she never seemed to respond to her name. We even had her hearing checked to rule that out, but it was just fine.

But ultimately, it was when she did not begin to meet the typical age-range milestones for babbling and even her first spoken words, in combination with these other concerns, that our observations collectivelly grew into greater worry. We knew something was wrong. Our perspective as parents shifted abruptly, with our first suspicions that our daugher had autism at the age of 12 months to the more concrete and somewhat paralyzing diagnosis of autism at the age of 18 months. And so the journey though autism began for myself, my partner, our extended family and our close friends; a journey that continues to evolve to this day, with some days being hopeful and other days more fearful. The only silver lining is that we did not dismiss our suspiciions out of fear and we had her assessed early. The resulting early intervention , speech and mental health services began almost immediately; and our worries as parents were somewhat abated for the moment because we had a plan that could help her. If I have one piece of advice: "If you are in doubt about whether or not your child is meeting his or her developmental milestones, or just seems 'socially lost' , please have them tested by professionals who can give you some objective advice." It is easy to live in denial that they will 'just grow out of it.' Hey, its okay to ge wrong about your suspicions, but it is better to know the score and have autism ruled out before they enter school. Early intervention for kids with autism spectrum disorders is the first key to a healthy, productive and happy future for them and their families.

Quotes from our daughter

"We should look at the baking card, so we know what to put in it." Our daughter loves using 'lists' which , makes recipes and baking a natural skill to learn. JUst break down the activity into steps on a list.
It's rude to say 'never mind' after hearing it in a story at bedtime. Now she's getting it! Reading comprehension can be quite the challenge at times. This oerspective taking shows the power of the 'Social Thinking' curriculum which we use with her at home and school.
Daddy said (as he put out the garbage one dark evening): " It's garbage day tommorrow". Our daughter replied, "It's garbage eve!" You just gotta laugh at that literal take on the situation!
"Sometimes my friends don't understand me."
" Can you write me a social story about that?"
" Sometimes, I act and think differently than my friends."

A Father's Perspective on Autism

Do you see what I see?

"Wretches and Jabberers" Documentary about Autism:

Other Parent Blogs About Autism

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