Life Is Bowl of Cherries Except For Autistic Adults
When I first started writing about 25 years ago, occasionally someone would compare me to Erma Bombeck, who used humor to highlight life's challenges. One of her famous titles was, "If Life Is A Bowl of Cherries, What am I Doing in the Pits?"
I saw the graphic about services for adults on Facebook over the weekend, and took it to the real conclusion.
Life for autistic adults is often the pits.
No budgets, no services, no jobs, no friends, no sex life
(it matters) no independence and worst of all? No genuine support or attention outside of families and a handful of States and organizations.
We need SO much more than platitudes and attaboys and girls. Most of us are pretty darn tired. Some nearing burnout and exhaustion, mental and physical. Worse, some in our community do the unthinkable.
When we, the 90s cohort parents, were learning about our kids' autism, we jumped into action. We dove in headfirst, not caring what was under the water. We had KIDS TO SAVE. Some pushed for better special ed. Others for awareness. Still others for treatment and cure. We ACTED and we've never stopped. Does this generation of parents have the strength and drive to help our kids by demanding better services be available when their kids age out at 22 into the abyss?
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Yes the future is very frightening now that many of our kids are adults and we are also getting older. In New York the age out is 21 and then the task of finding an adult program with very high turn over rates due to low pay and difficult work. My son lasted in an adult program for 12 years and now he is tired of it and no longer interested in doing the same monotonous activities over and over again. He is home every day with a Zoom program and a personal tutor that we have hired and have to pay privately. One of my friends told me that a staff at her son's program said this is a dying field and people no longer want to work in it, and they do it for a short time, put it on their work resume and move on to better paying jobs. The housing is in a crisis with long wait lists and I have heard many horror stories of what goes on in these homes with no oversight. We desperately need independent pharmaceuticals and researchers dedicated to doing clinical trials for new medications that can offer all of us a chance for a real CURE for our adults and the generations of autistic adults of the future. The time is now!
Posted by: Gayle | July 04, 2024 at 09:11 AM
The future is scary and uncertain as our kids are getting older- and so are we.
I read horror stories about group homes - and there isn’t any availability anyway. Probably a blessing in disguise.
Posted by: 4Bobby | July 02, 2024 at 08:56 PM
Draconian treatments are still the go to for the NHS in the UK when Autism is diagnosed.The story below the only encouragement is that the comments most of them,are negative towards the state,which ten years ago would not have been the case.
Terrified mum on run with autistic daughter left with "nowhere to turn" as authorities close in
Shona McIntyre, 43, has been on the run with her daughter, Megan, 18, since she was due to be sectioned last week.
A terrified mum who is on the run with her autistic daughter in England has told how she has been left with "nowhere to turn" as authorities close in on her.
Shona McIntyre, 43, fled her home in West Lothian last week after her 18-year-old daughter, Megan, was due to be sectioned at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. The mum claims medics wanted to admit the teenager, who also has a learning disability, to the adult-only facility because she was struggling to eat.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/terrified-mum-run-autistic-daughter-33143500#comments-wrapper
Pharma For Prison
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | July 02, 2024 at 11:12 AM