Navigating Autism

Step by step. Breaking barriers and showing the world that autism is an explanation, not an excuse. If you imagine it, it’s possible. https://www.thestate.com//high-scho/article245734630.html

Artwork by Kennedy Areffi. We remember.

Kennedy asked to share this. It does a good job of explaining what happened on 9/11. She wanted to say, this was part of my French lesson at Grant High School. When I was in 12th grade. Although it’s not in French. https://youtu.be/qZ_aDMyK4_0

Way to go Rachel! https://www.facebook.com/100000411763050/posts/3606502226040134/?extid=jb6t71jDCu4AHkLM&d=n

We are huge advocates for mental health response and training. This young man didn’t deserve this. But there are a lot of holes in this story. First of all, if she’s calling for a psychotic break and intervention to have him taken to a hospital (here it’s a 5150.) then he was not just screaming and yelling. She had been unable to go to work for a year nor leave his side. Where were the professionals that were helping him learn to cope and her to deal with issues? W...ho the hell was inside the house with him? She was outside. There’s no report saying any known caregiver or therapist was with him. And like ANY person, if he’s already having a breakdown serious enough to call 911, he is going to freak out when a bunch of armed police come charging in. Of course he will fight back and try to escape. He’s autistic, not stupid. Making it sound like he’s a little boy at 13 is misleading. A well motivated autistic person having a full blown episode can take you out when they’re 3, let alone 13. How big was he? At 4 years old it took 4 people to clip my sons fingernails and we looked like when been to battle afterwards. The ferocity of an autism meltdown can be quite frightening for most people. For police officers with no context, it can be mistaken for defiance or drugs. Yes, police need training, but they cannot be expected to diagnose and address any mental health issues in under 20 seconds. A mistake in that is how cops get dead. We need to work together to bring awareness - but literally, that requires a HUGE parent contribution and responsibility. No one knows your kid better than you. Yes, believe me, I know far too painfully what it’s like to Monday morning quarterback after a particularly awful episode. You doubt every decision you made. Without context, it sounds like the cops were given a description of a potentially armed violent person - whose mother wasn’t even in the house with him, nor any other trained caregiver cited. Would any of you allow a team of police officers, without any trained medical personnel or therapists, storm into your home to subdue your teenager while they’re melting down and alone? Does anyone believe that would not be a foreseeable catastrophe? I hope he makes a full recovery and gets assistance. He does not deserve this treatment. No one does. He didn’t deserve to be terrorized and especially shot. So why was he placed in that kind of dangerous situation? If you have answers, insight or advice on how it could be handled, please let me know. We are always learning - and if we don’t educate each other and those expected to deal with a full blown meltdown, no one else will. Most of us know how terrifying those are - and how they appear to others. We have got to do better. They deserve better. And it’s not a matter of fixing them. https://apple.news/ADD1WJAglQBGj4Jwk5u8srw