Dyslogic Syndrome by Rimland Bernard

Author:Rimland, Bernard [Rimland, Bernard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography
ISBN: 9781843108771
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 1649776
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2008-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

F A M I L I E S O F A D U L T S W I T H A U T I S M

John’s longtime friend Sue Taylor now heads the Adult Program, and with her calm and skill, the daily schedules are carefully planned so that the adults are rarely all crammed into the same space at once. Workshop-like tasks are organized so that everyone can participate, regardless of ability.

While language therapy is not funded for adults, the program makes a heroic effort to sustain language goals.

The downside is that it’s difficult to retain capable staff with the meager reimbursement paid by the State, forcing a lifelong commitment to fundraising by those parents who are still on their feet, as well as requiring perpetual response to erosion of state support. For if the potential for adults to learn is there, the funding isn’t; in most states, adults with autism receive less than one-third the program support funding of the earlier years, and even that is diminishing. For me, the hardest part of our experience has not been John himself, but rather the difficulty of obtaining and keeping services.

John’s career has spanned three eras: from total lack of public support for special education as a child, to the empowerment of IDEA (1975), to the 2004 IDEA revision which undermined some parental rights. Similarly, California has evolved from meager services for special needs (pre-1970), to a no-frills statewide delivery system (1970s–1990s), to the economic backlash of the early 2000s, which has threatened to dismantle the whole structure. The unraveling of rights and services in California, in the name of

“cost containment,” has been exacerbated by the tremendous increase in the autism population. The result of these changes is that there’s no assurance that an adult child will be cared for, once the parents are gone.

Our children grow up, and we grow old. My peers, who’ve coped with the issues of autism for so many years, seem to have an unduly high rate of mortality and illness for their age. Lifelong stress is surely a factor: parents must not only determine their affected child’s needs and find (or fight for) adequate services, but also perform an elaborate juggling act to sustain the rest of the family. Those who are lucky find stable programs and adequate support. Even then, they face the perpetual task of keeping those services afloat.

Despite hard realities, living with autism is an immensely enriching experience. Autism can bring its own blessings in our personal growth, in our children’s unique gifts, and in the incredible people dedicated to their care, people who wouldn’t come into our lives any other way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.