There Is Help Availble - Are You Willing To Accept It?

There Is Help Available - Are You Willing To Accept It?

I just read an article by Lisa Jo Rudy, blogger at Autism Guide. Her article was entitled, "Can You Offer Help for Parents with Asperger's Syndrome?" What was being discussed was 2 particular individuals with Asperger's Syndrome who were experiencing some significant life set-backs because of their condition, yet once again, apparently the community at large is at a loss for providing any tangible assistance, as this blogger is taking the question to her readers. Why am I so surprised?

I am posting my response to this blogpost below, as I believe we have to start addressing this question NOW! This situation is NOT going to get any easier, as the diagnostic rates continue to rise faster than the waters of the mighty Mississippi during a monsoon!

Here's my response and I hope the autism community will begin to rise up against the ego's of the world, to shout out, "There is help available - Are you willing to accept it?"

Hello Lisa Jo!

I just finished reading your article titled, "Can You Offer Help for Parents of Adult Children with Asperger's Syndrome?"

As an individual with Asperger's Syndrome/ADHD, the mother of a child with Asperger's and another with autism/ADHD, along with founding an autism treatment center that deals with thousands of individuals with ASD's, I would love to weigh in on this with some thoughts!

Over the years I have changed my opinion to that of ASD's being a lacking of skills that needed to be learned, to understand that it's truly more of an overage of ability. What I mean by that is those with ASD's typically have an ADDITIONAL set of skills that those who are neurotypical do not have. They are overwhelmed by these additional skill sets and don't have many role models to teach them to weild these tools properly, as most do not have them, nor do most understand what we are experiencing on a daily basis and why, how we process information, and how we have to work through those issues to come to a resolution on the other end that results in life changes.

ASD's are medical problems, with neurological consequences and behavioral outcomes. Simply addressing behavior is NOT enough, hence the reason these families are getting no help for these out of control teens or adults with AS. I see it every single day and it's becoming a crisis in terms of the sheer volume of individuals being affected, yet what options are these families being given in terms of tangible help and assistance?

I see psychobabble and overmedication constantly being used as a means to "subdue" the situations and behaviors at hand, yet with unfortunate results in the realm of losing cognition and gifts in the process. Outside of what we have been doing at the Autism Solution Center, I have yet to see real change be affected in the lives of these incredible individuals with AS, bringing them closer to independence, which is what the struggle is all about.

We need to be heard by the medical and professional community. Just because we may not have a M.D. or Ph.D. behind our names does not mean we do not have incredible insight to offer in this field, that most professionals are failing miserably in. I am interested in changing and improving the quality of lives being led by those with ASD's. Opinions are just that, but at the end of the day, it comes down to doing what works, and frankly, most (not all) in the medical and professional community are at a loss in this area when it comes to AS. Let's hope they start listening and recognizing insight from within those with these disorders for what it is.......... incredibly useful!

Just my 2 cents!

Sincerely,

Laura Corby, Founder/CEO
Autism Solution Center, Inc.
9282 Cordova Park Road
Cordova, TN 38018
(901) 758-8288
info@autismsolutioncenter.com
http://www.autismsolutioncenter.org

Remember, the Ark was build by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals!