Autism Book Breaks Neurodiversity Taboos

Dianne Dempsey of The Age has reviewed Dear Gabriel: Letter to An Autistic Son a book by Norwegian Publisher Halfdan W Freihow which is sure to receive angry reviews from members of the Neurodiversity club. The book is written as a letter to Freihow's autistic son and it breaks two of Neurodiversity's most sacrosanct taboos.

In the first instance, Freihow as the father of an autistic son and as a parent can not actually know anything about autism. Bettelheim's heirs in the Neurodiversity/"Autism" Rights movement do not believe that a parent should express independent opinions about their own child's autism.

Secondly, the book breaks Neurodiversity's ultimate commandment "thou shalt say nothing negative about autism":

His son, while blighted, is beautiful, his wife a saint but Freihow says there are terrible days when Gabriel cries and rages until they are all overwhelmed by exhaustion and despair and the whole house explodes. Freihow says that the only reason he and his wife are still together is because they spend so much time apart. It is not only Freihow's finely tuned sensibilities but the brutal honesty with which he writes that gives his book its strength and credibility.

If the book review is accurate then Freihow is following a path walked by the parents of the Autism Everyday Video, a path which saw those parents demonized by the "Autism Rights"/Neurodiversity ideologues for speaking honestly about their children, their autism disorders and autism's impact on a family.

I look forward to reading Dear Gabriel: Letter to An Autistic Son.

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autism's gadfly, A Name Well Chosen, A Blog Worth Visiting

If you want to read a good "autism" blog check out autism's gadfly hosted by Jonathan Mitchell. He is truly a straight shooter who calls it the way he sees it. And doesn't mind, or maybe enjoys, challenging anyone's autism beliefs and opinions. Although Jonathan is an adult with autism he is not anti-cure and does not embrace the Neurodiversity/Autism Rights ideologies - the full title of his blog is "autism's gadfly I don't need no stinkin' neurodiversity"

I enjoy reading Jonathon's comments even though we disagree on many points, particularly ABA. As he puts it on his web site Jonathon is pro-cure, anti-neurodiversity, anti-special ed, anti-ABA. Not being a fan of the Neurodiversity/alleged Autism Rights Movement I enjoy the shots he takes at the leaders of those "movements" although I wince when he calls parents well intentioned but misguided for advocating for specific treatments, including ABA.

Good Morning America should do their viewers a favor and grant Jonathan the equal time he requested as an autistic person who does not share the Neurodiversity views advocated on their show by alleged Autism Rights advocate Ari Ne'eman. (Mr. Ne'eman was also accompanied by autism parent Kristina Chew who has embraced the sweet surrender of the anti-cure Neurodiversity movement.)

Not all autistic persons, even those who are high functioning, share Mr. Ne'eman's views. And not all agree with the heated rhetoric of Michelle Dawson. autism's gadfly is one that does not. His unique perspective is well worth reading.

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Invisible Autistics: The Severely Autistic

Parents of children with Autistic Disorder have often encountered uncomprehending stares when their children suffer public meltdowns. Service providers routinely state that mere physical inclusion in a classroom will inevitably help all autistic children and then blame the children when they over overwhelmed. These responses arise from ignorance. Parents strive to educate and inform but they must overcome persistent ignorance of the realities of autistic disorder.

The ignorance is perpetuated by a mass media - read CNN, NY Magazine and now ABC News, addicted to feel good, fluffy tales of autism focused on a few with exceptional abilities and on the barely autistic persons with Aspergers who lead the outrageously misnamed Autism Rights movement; a movement which in fact suppresses the rights of those with Autistic Disorder and severe deficits.

There are some exceptions to the feel good media focus particularly here in Canada. The Vancouver Sun took a realistic look at autism in its Face of Autism series. Recently CBC New Brunswick did a feature on a severely autistic teen living with his parents who have to use restraints to protect family members from acts of aggression. In neighboring Maine, the Bangor Daily News recently featured the story of a Maine family struggling to care for their autistic adult daughter at home in Crisis in Caring.

Generally though attempts to get the truth out about severe autism realities are ignored by the mainstream media. I was in contact with one of the major news networks recently and suggested that they do a feature on the lives of autistic persons living in institutional care. I am not holding my breath on that one. The leaders of the so called Autism Rights movement actively work to suppress the truth being told about persons with severe autism deficits. They organize petitions to harass institutions which use negative images of autism as Dr. Koplewicz and the "Ransom Notes" campaign found out. The families who courageously told the truth about the challenges faced by their autistic children in the Autism Every Day video have been vilified by the leaders of the alleged Autism Rights movement.

Here is the truth about children with severe autism disorders and deficits:

1) Their parents and families love them deeply; that is why they seek to help them overcome their deficits and challenges;
2) Many ARE doomed to lives of dependency and residential or institutional care;
3) Some injure themselves, family members, educators and care givers very seriously through such actions as biting and head banging;
4) Some are so sensitive and averse to specific textures and tastes that they virtually starve themselves;
5) Some have serious intellectual, communication and behavioral deficits;
6) Some lack understanding of the real world and its many danges such as automobile traffic or drowning.

These are only some of the harsh realities faced by severely autistic persons and their families. It is because of these realities that families, persons who actually care about THEM, try to find treatments and hopefully some day a cure, to help them live a fuller, longer, more independent life. No one is trying to cure the high functioning persons with Aspergers who lead the "Autism" Rights Movement. Their anti-cure rallying cry actually has little or nothing to do with them. Their anti-cure rallying cry is really an attempt to suppress the rights of the severely autistic about whom the ARM leaders care very little.

It is, and always will be, parents of the severely autistic who love them, care for them, sacrifice for them, and try to help them who seek to cure their own children and to make the world, including such "news" organisations as CNN, NY Magazine and ABC News aware of their existence.

They are the invisible autistics. They are our children, our brothers and sisters. And we love them as they are. But we also try to make their lives better through accommodation, yes. Through education, yes. Through treatment, yes. And if cures become available, through cures.
And we will undertake these challenges even though our severely autistic family members remain invisible to the world; even though their rights, even knowledge of their existence is suppressed by the leaders of a movement which falsely pretends to speak on their behalf.

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Kristina Chew's False Autism Dichotomy

"But Kristina Chew also said she wouldn't change her severely autistic son Charlie if she could.

"We really try and understand him on his own terms," she said.

That is her advice for parents dealing with a child's autism diagnosis and feeling hopeless.

"Acceptance, to me, is the beginning of hope," Chew said. "I look at my son, even on the days, the most terrible, terrible days. I still knew that I love my son. That he was with us, and that he would be with us, and that the hope was really in him.""

ABC News

The above quote is from the ABC news feature on the "Autism" Rights Movement led, not by a person with Autistic Disorder, but by a person with Aspergers. This intelligent, articulate, media savvy individual presumes to speak on behalf of persons with Autistic Disorder, and persons with much more severe life challenges and say that they, like him, don't want a cure. New York Magazine and now ABC News has jumped on this misleading rights movement. And of course, there too is Neurodiversity mom Kristina Chew with her usual false autism dichotomy as set out above. Acceptance - as Ms Chew articulates it - is surrender.

If you truly love your autistic child you will stop trying to cure him or her and surrender. And, oh, don't worry about that self injury thingy, that head banging, hand biting, self starvation, running in traffic or just wandering away stuff. That is all part of acceptance. You either accept and celebrate your child's autism or you do not truly love him or her. That is the false dichotomy promoted by Ms Chew.

Here is news for Ms. Chew. Parents seeking to treat and cure their autistic children do love them. That is why THEY seek treatment and cure for their children. Even if you do not.

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Autism Therapy: Autistic Man Benefited From ABA

If you listened to many of the anti-ABA ideologues in the Neurodiversity club you would not want ABA therapy for your child. If you are the parent of a newly diagnosed autistic child and you listened to thef promotoers of the Alleged Autism Rights Movement you would not seek ABA therapy for your child. If you listen to these ideologues you would pass on the only proven effective healt treatment AND education intervention for autistic children.

Many of the anti-ABA ideologues have no actual experience with ABA themselves and yet they dismiss the conclusions of responsible agencies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Maine (MADSEC) Autism Task Force, the New York State Department of Health, the US Surgeon Generals Office, the Association for Science in Autism Treatment, the May Institute, and five decades of research pointing to the effectiveness of ABA in helping autistic children. Of course the ideologues who believe that autism is not truly a disorder, because their mild version of autism poses few restriction on their enjoyment of life, also dismiss, the views and efforts of hundreds of thousands of parents across North America who are seeking to treat, educate or otherwise help their autistic children with ABA intervention.

If you are the parent of a newly diagnosed autistic child seeking therapy for your child read the responsible authorities referenced above, the latest being the 2007 report of the American Academy of Pediatrcs, Management of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. ABA is not a "cure" for autism. But it is have been proven effective at helping autistic children as stated by the American Academy of Pediatrics:

The effectiveness of ABA-based intervention in ASDs has been well documented through 5 decades of research by using single-subject methodology21,25,27,28 and in controlled studies of comprehensive early intensive behavioral intervention programs in university and community settings.29–40 Children who receive early intensive behavioral treatment have been shown to make substantial, sustained gains in IQ, language, academic performance, and adaptive behavior as well as some measures of social behavior, and their outcomes have been significantly better than those of children in control groups.31–40

You may also want to read the NBC10 feature Autism Therapy Proves Effective For Bucks County Teen which tells the story of A.J. Corless diagnosed with low-functioning autism whose family sought ABA intervention for their son, now a thriving adult:

"I learned how to do current events, English, spelling, proofreading. I'm learning how to cook, take inventory, put pictures on scrapbook and upload pictures," Corless said.

But his life wasn't always that way.A short time after his second birthday, Corless was diagnosed with low-functioning autism."I was told to go home, worry about my other children. He wouldn't amount to anything," Joanne Corless, A.J.'s mother, said.The Corless family chose to ignore the bleak diagnosis from doctors and were determined to help A.J. reach his full potential.That's when they turned to an intense, one-on-one therapy, called applied behavioral analysis or ABA.

"The ABA is just constantly keeping them on task, constantly reinforcing them, making them learn," Joanne Corless said.The Corless family saw change instantly."He's come a lot further than we've ever dreamed he's come," Joanne Corless said.Joanne said shortly after beginning ABA therapy, A.J. began to speak and follow directions.Now at 18, he plays classical piano, volunteers at a library and excels in many sports."I have a red belt in karate. I like going to the special Olympic games," A.J. Corless said.

He also can get you anywhere you need to go."I like to get my mom directions to places so she doesn't get lost," A.J. Corless said. Everyday, he works to overcome the obstacles of autism and his family said specialized therapy makes it possible."I look at A.J. and I think that he is a child that has learned to live with his disability. He has a great life. He really does," Joanne Corless said.




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Alleged Autism Rights Movement and Severe Autism: Autistic Boy Goes Missing, Struck and Killed by Train

The Alleged Autism Rights Movement isn't much help for the severely autistic, the truly severely autistic, not the former students of colleges for gifted youths, but those, like my son Conor who wondered across a busy main street oblivious to the dangers of traffic; or those like the 10 year old severely autistic boy in North Carolina who was struck by a train and killed Saturday half an hour after police received a report he was missing from his home.

Severely autistic people like that poor North Carolina boy, like my son Conor, like the 50 year old autistic woman who could not communicate to tell the world she was being abused by staff in the residential care facility in which she lives in Long Island, are not likely to be posing for fashion photos in New York Magazine any time soon. The severely autistic people and the conditions they suffer with are not to be mentioned in polite company for fear that a realistic description of THEIR autism might offend those who pose in the New York Magazine, the internet divas and the former elf realm dwellers of the Alleged Autism Rights Movement.

To the Alleged Autism Rights leaders if you want to pretend to speak on behalf of all persons with autism then start speaking about those with actual Autistic Disorder who do not share all your gifts and good fortunes. And stop trying to suppress and obscure candid discussion of THEIR autism, not YOUR's, which is so different.

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