welcome aboard, I met a lady on wednesday who was amazed my daughter wasn't institualized...I made the comment nope thats not done as much these days.....my daughter has aspergers...this ladies three kids were acting worse than my daughter ever would out in public...she also said I needed to medicate my daughter boy her sons add meds needed to be adjusted bigtime...everyone feels they have to educate you....I surely gave her a piece of my mind and educated her about autism....thanks goodness my daughter didn't understand my wrath at the time, she just wanted to play....Ignorant people are everywhere....some even act like it's contagious....stupid people!!

I remember when I brought my son into a walk-in-clinic. My son was crying and grabbing at his crotch. He was about 3 1/2 4 at the time. I did have the diagnosis and was copng rather well. Anyway, the doc walked in and immediately said, as though giving me the diagnosis for the first time, "your son has Autism, you should do this, this and this. My son has Autism as well and we have done this, this and this,. You should too. Etc. blah, blah."

I told him I was well aware he had Autism, that I wasn't there for a diagnosis, I was there for his crotch. I then flung back to the doctor, "So after all youv'e done . After all you're a doctor and you know all the right things to do. And your Wife is a teacher. ... I suppose your son is fully verbal right?

"uh, well he talks",

"yeah, so does mine.. but he's not conversational. Is yours? Since you seem to know everything!"

"uh, yeah he talks. "

"SO, I guess yours Isn't fully conversational either. They sound the same. So we must both be doing all the same things. Good, now that we've settled this, can you look at the reason I brought him today?"

Dummy! They all think they know everything!

oh what is really gonna get your panties in a wad is when a nurse or doctor says "i could not look at him and tell he has autism" my advise when that happens is do what i did recently, whip them with your mouth!

Hi Lewsmom,
i recieve the same statements,
"oh ReallY??? He does not look it" I will ask them, "well then.. what DOES? it LOOK like?"
be prepared for:
"Oh thats cool! he is really smart??
"OHHH he is like rainman??"
"What will you do when he gets older??"
Blah blah blah...people avoid us if he is stimming in public ya know like waiting in line at the store, people look and move to a different cashier. Esp if they have kids.
Some don't tho they are pretty cool.
When people have said "Its Ok"
That he has autism. I say.."No actully No Its Not OK"
We are here and we all understand!!!!

What gets me is when people say " theres so much they can do for autism now". I know they mean well, but its not they who can do so much for autism its actually us mommies.

My all time favorite is ...hmmm did you drink or something while pregnant! Frig!!! I didn't even eat peanut butter!
Or there is the time that I was in a mall, son in stroller...at that point he was still very young, just over a year I guess...and an older lady proceeded to tell me it was very 'stupid' of me to give my son chocolate milk in a sippy cup...she went on and on...then I had my piece...first of all it was none of here business..and second of all 'stupid' is what she was...it was friggin V-8 juice!!!! She never even appologised! That is when I learned some people are small minded and just plain 'stupid'!!! That being said...I have met some wonderful people that don't blame and would do almost anything to help...guess it takes all kinds!! :o) And if the lady with the chocolate milk problem is the worst I get, I'm just fine with that!!! :o),

My sister-in-law who sees my son about 6 hours a year and has read a couple of articles on autism feels that she is an expert on the subject. She told my mother-in-law that there was a school near us (The Eden Institute) that was the right place for Danny to be treated and that we were doing him a disservice with his current treatment plan. The arrogance and ignorance of this woman is mind blowing. To be fair, I had a similar experience with my sister. I told her that she had never sat in on an IEP meeting, that she had never read any of his reports and that she was not trained in the treatment or diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders and to butt out. That shut her up pretty good. I am looking forward to the opportunity to rip my sister-in-law. Why do people have to react like this? If they walked for a day in our shoes, they might have a little more respect for what we deal with. If you don't live with a child on the spectrum, you have no idea how this disorder affects life in the most granular and unexpected manner. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone tell you, "Hey, what you're doing is really hard."?

To be frank, this is why I am also so down on people in general. Sick of their ignorance and sick of how they take every f*&%ing thing for granted!

A BIRTHMARK!? What the heck does the doctor friend mean by that, like the scarlet letter? That's just not even logical.

yep if you dont live it you dont know how it truly is. PAMom you go girl and say a few for me too!! Im sick of these people as well.
I hear you need respite, yeah? I say you gonna come over and watch steven while i go? Thats BS. why? because the ones who say that to me, cant do it. they have reasons, I dont like it when people preach about what i need or what steven needs and they have not walked even an hr in my shoes.

I started telling people from the first that my son has Autism. I think the pro-active stance works for me in general. I get many responses, from gee he is a good looking boy, to statements that they could tell, to they can't tell, or just quiet. I like it that way. I met a family the other day who help us with sign language, and the only person we met who was upset was the little girl Oli hit with a full sand bucket, and she just move away to not play with him. I can't blame her! I need to move out of his range myself.
I think ignorance is the most common mental illness, and that the people who act that way need to be trained, so if they are rude I educate them, not about Oli but about life and if that person is the non-professional I am paying, I change doctors or refuse the schools service when the staff is ignorant, I am not letting that level of disrespect and ignorance affect me, at least not negatively. I will be affected to get a lawyer and sue the school, since they continue to be ignorant and non-compliant.

When I first told my mother - a nurse in a high-needs disability unit - that the Occupational Therapist had suggested Jordan may have Autism, she refussed to believe it. "Autistic kids bang their heads against the wall and never smile." Luckily, she's not completely ignorant and did a little research. Within a couple of days she was not only convinced Jordan had Autism, she'd scheduled an assessment for my brother (later diagnosed with aspergers).
A little more awareness would go a long way. When people stare at the shops or something, I just look at them and say "he has autism" - most look embarrased and walk away, honestly! But I agree, I hate it when people try to advise you on how to 'fix it'. Believe me, if it was as simple as putting him on a yeast free diet, I would have done it years ago! Same for accupuncture, hypnotherapy, brain surgery, insulin injections, preservative free diets, various drugs, and every other looney idea someone has suggested because they saw some article or documentary