#adventuresinautism

I was asked (if such a thing existed), would I cure the kids' autism. The answer is yes.

I post, almost exclusively, very positive moments they have, often funny ones, as a result of their perception of the world. The reasons are mostly selfish:

I post as a way of connecting with other autistic families and getting (and sometimes giving) advice; because these moments are genuinely funny. Any 'awareness bonus' is clearly great but honestly wasn't the point. It's worked well and I intend to continue.

The cure, then...

I was asked by a friend and colleague what I would do in the event a cure was offered. My wife and I have discussed this before. We discussed it heatedly - would the kids' personalities be gone, would who they are essentially 'die' without autism?

We agreed it probably would...

Raising 4 autistic kids is really hard (#5 too young to tell). We nearly broke up; we've argued; we've despaired. But, quite rightly it's not about us, not really.

It's about when a simple social interaction at school so overwhelms #1 or #2 that they break down and cry.

It's when #3 is so overwhelmed by a stimulus I can't identify that she breaks skin through biting herself or has to be restrained to stop her hurting herself (not for a number of years now, thank fudge). Or screaming in terror at a light. A bus. A fudging moth.

#4 seeks out stimulus. He's trapped inside himself and is so desperate to get what he wants he'll take any risk.

Given the run we've had, I'm expecting #5 to score on the spectrum as well. I honestly hope she doesn't.

I'm amazed by families that deal with autistic kids...

...I really am. Some wouldn't change a thing, make it part of their lives and keep going. They fill me with hope. They also enrage me, for all of the reasons above and one more:

I don't wa t my kids to suffer. They do, constantly, not fitting in the world because they can't...

process it. All the coping strategies, 8 years of learning and studying and progressis in inches. They might have full, independent lives. I hope so. But if someone told me I could take the anxiety, the pain and the isolation away with a cure, I'd do it. I don't see it is as...

destroying a community, I see it as freeing 4 people from a shed ton of pain and years of quite literally not fitting in.

Peace and love, humans.