Re: Autisim ( my 2 cents )

I wanted to respond briefly to this teacher's observation.
As a parent of an Autistic child I greatly appreciate your
honesty in this most important matter. My son is 3 1/2 years
old and I'm trying really hard to "save" him so to speak.
Trying desparately to "catch him up" before kindergarden.
There is a lot of information out here regarding autisim, but
none that seems so so helpful for a parent with average
income. Thanks for addressing the fact that socioeconomic
status and appropiate professional help go hand and hand.

Sincerely,
Jamila

On 4/28/05, Cynthia wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I saw the posts concering autism and I wanted to add a few
> things.. I am not an expert by any means but I meet a woman
> who has an autistic child and happens to be a behavioral
> specialist JUST for auttistic children... she taught her
> own child to read... and also told me that she got experts
> that are based in CALI ( we live in NYC) to see here
> child... mind you this woman is well off financially and
> not only does her child get experts to help but also has a
> mother who is specifically trained to help autistic
> children... she charges $175.00..so I gues she must be
> good..
>
> I also saw a program about this.. and the parents
> highlighted ,also hired private behavioral specialists to
> come to their home... with the right methods and MUCH
> REPETITION....one child was able to go to a " regular"
> school... he was helped before he was in first grade..
>
>
> I do not know what the public schools offer... but I was
> teacher for 14 years here in NYC and I find that even for
> dyslexsia the teachers were poorly trained...
>
> I myself have bipolar depression and found such ignorance,
> lack of empathy even cruelty from many teachers concerning
> this....
>
> I fear that autistic children do not have a good chance of
> being helped in public schools.. I think they ( among other
> children ) are just " warehoused".... I think the system
> makes it look as if these children are not helpable where
> in fact, the system is ill equipped but rather than own up
> to this they would rather blame the child or the parents..
>
> I just hope that it does not take a private specialist to
> help these children because most people can not afford to
> pay.....