Tag Archives: autism

the Outlook for a Special Needs Parent

The outlook for a special needs parent that fell in a hole. Seriously, this graphic, I didn’t make it – I found it on facebook, (if you created it or know who did, please comment and let me know so I can give them credit.) but anyway, this graphic says so much about what the Special Needs Parent goes thru for their child. In some cases daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. We see it many times for our David. And truth is, for some of the supports he has received over the years, the only reason he has received them is this blog and the fear some feel that I might sue the state of North Dakota over the lack of services and support. So where is this wonderful graphic? Right here:       For those who can’t see the graphic because you are using a screen reader or something,

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I Guess That’s My Cue

I don’t write about anyone in the family except David, unless I am writing about things he has done to his siblings.  Today, I am writing about my son…  let’s call him George. George has Asperger’s Syndrome, which falls in the Autism Spectrum Disorder list.  He does really well. Earlier this year, he brought up the idea of attending Boys State.  So we encouraged him to apply.  He was accepted, but I could see as school ended, and summer began he was beginning to show some anxiety about what Boys State would mean. We talked about ways for him to be successful.  About embracing those aspects of his Asperger’s Syndrome which will benefit him during the time at Boys State.  George has a phenomenal memory. I would say that he is highly intelligent, but he doesn’t like to show that off, because, he admits he is afraid of letting us

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Denial, Denial, Denial – Placement just fell through

Well. We were all set to take David to a new facility on Monday. Today, that fell through. Evidently, we haven’t tried hard enough.  We haven’t driven enough miles.  We haven’t tried this program or that. The psychiatrist’s recommendation isn’t enough.  We didn’t try to give up custody to the state. The language that the psychiatrist used in her last notes about our visit was that I was trying to provoke a response in my son. No prior outpatient treatment has been tried and/org symptoms do not support the need for the intensity of services. Inpatient treatment under the direction of a physician is not required. Documentation does not demonstrate that services can improve the recipients condition or prevent further regression. I didn’t comment and try to provoke a response.  The psychiatrist told me in front of David that we would need to give up custody to the state to

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