what i am doing....
I have been thinking about all the classes we have taken and where I was when this whole ASD program started and I can't believe how much has happened. Just this week I started a support group for parents with children who are Asperger's, NLD, ADHD etc. Ten parent's showed up, a mixture of moms and dads, which was good, because many times men don't seem to come to these sort of meetings. It always amazes me how our stories are so similar but all very different! The similarities of knowing there was something different about our kids from a very young age, professionals and others telling us it was nothing we were worrying over nothing, having siblings that are so different, wondering what we did wrong, going from Dr. to Dr. or specialist to specialist trying to find the "right" one..... Everyone has a story and and they are all compelling. Then there are the differences! Every kid is so complex and interesting and completely different! In Elsa's class last week we had a chance to interview/chat with a group of high school kids and even though each child had a social deficit and many similar interests they were all very different kids. I knew this about all kids before this program but it seems that many people that I encounter in the education field lump these "quirky" kids together and want to have a simple, easy program to follow. Many of the people I have talked with in my area have not taken the time to understand how different each of these socially challenged children are and so have not had success in individualizing their programs. It has been very frustrating but I am trying hard to continue with open communication - I don't want to burn any bridges. I feel that I have an opportunity to educate the educators and one of my personal goals is to try to find a way to do this in the area I live in. I have many connections in the education and counseling fields and I am working towards this goal as best I can. Peace
posted by robin lurie-meyerkopf @ 9:37 AM
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