A 17 year old autistic girl who went missing in St. Paul Minnesota has been found safe in Eagan Thursday morning about 24 hours after she left her home early Wednesday. The police do not know where the young woman stayed over night. Kim Stagliano at Age of Autism blogged this story under the appropriately sarcastic title More Joy of Autism: Another Lost Child.
I too find it difficult, OK impossible, to refrain from sarcasm, and other negative forms of expression, when mentioning the "Joy of Autism" nonsense promoted by Estee Klar-Wolfond and other bloggers who argue that autism, a neurological disorder, should be celebrated. That a parent can celebrate the fact that their child has a neurological disorder that will impair and restrict his or her life is beyond my comprehension. I have written on this subject several times including in Joy of Conor, Why I Find No Joy In Autism - Biting and Other Self Injurious Behavior, and Autism Reality On The Road . Conor has gone missing in the past and when it happened it terrified me and each story of a missing autistic person hits me hard in the gut. He has injured himself with biting and on occasion his mother with hair pulling. These are not events to celebrate.
I find great joy in Conor, my buddy forever, but not in the autistic disorder which limits his life experiences so drastically. I will never surrender to the muddled thinking that would have me confuse joy in my son with joy in the autistic disorder which marks his life so seriously.
I am happy that the 17 year old in Minnesota was found safe.
I too find it difficult, OK impossible, to refrain from sarcasm, and other negative forms of expression, when mentioning the "Joy of Autism" nonsense promoted by Estee Klar-Wolfond and other bloggers who argue that autism, a neurological disorder, should be celebrated. That a parent can celebrate the fact that their child has a neurological disorder that will impair and restrict his or her life is beyond my comprehension. I have written on this subject several times including in Joy of Conor, Why I Find No Joy In Autism - Biting and Other Self Injurious Behavior, and Autism Reality On The Road . Conor has gone missing in the past and when it happened it terrified me and each story of a missing autistic person hits me hard in the gut. He has injured himself with biting and on occasion his mother with hair pulling. These are not events to celebrate.
I find great joy in Conor, my buddy forever, but not in the autistic disorder which limits his life experiences so drastically. I will never surrender to the muddled thinking that would have me confuse joy in my son with joy in the autistic disorder which marks his life so seriously.
I am happy that the 17 year old in Minnesota was found safe.
autism
I 'lost' my son briefly this holiday. It is indeed terrifying even though it was only a for few minutes.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he was found and that he was safe.
Best wishes to you and Conor
I am so happy the teen was found safe. This is such an unhappy reality that happens to many parents of children with autism.
ReplyDeleteI pray in time there will be a cure so no parent needs to go through this torture. Until then I will continue to advocate for medicare for autism and continue with ABA/IBI. ABA/IBI has been an invaluable help to my child and the gains made in such a short time remarkable. We must continue to lobby our government for medicare for autism now.
I hope your family is enjoying their summer. What programs does NB offer for children during summer vacation with an ABA approach?
Have you heard from Stephan's family? I received an email through facebook from his daughter that Stephan was diagnosed with depression and still not receiving therapy for Simon.
Estee Klar are her "joy" attitude is as phony as it gets. Reading that woman's blog....well it sounds like she has a screw loose---sorry!
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