[salmonjunkie]

Holy shit, you're John Byrne's nephew? Nice!

The bitch that diagnosed him (suppossedly one of the nations preeminent experts in the field) tried to tell me that I and most people in my field (Computer Science / Engineering) have Autism in some regard along the spectrum.

I actually heard today for the first time that a lot of people in silicon valley have autistic children.

As someone who does disability work, I have to say, every time I do a case that is an autistic child, I feel really sad. Sad because I just can't imagine what it would be like to be in that parents' shoes, knowing I'd have to care for the child for the rest of my life, that I'd never be able to see that person, my son or daughter, grow to be an adult. I know for me, it'd be a hard thing to do - so John, it's not psycho to think that you 'lost something'.

In my line of work, I get immune to a lot of people and their disabilities - I just do, it happens to everybody who does what I do. But man, I have such a soft spot for children's disability cases. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be that parent, and I really don't know if I have the ability to take that sacrifice (maybe that's a harsh word?) to do that.

So saying that, I commend you and Derf, that you guys have the fucking heart and ability to be so caring and recognize that your kids have that for you, and that's what keeps it going. In the end, that's what matters most, right? That makes you guys better people than I.

[Outback Frito Pendejo]

Derf, I did a little homework. The most important law for this is IDEA - Individuals With Disabilities Act. It spells out numerous rights, but not every state has "signed up" for it. Disabled kids get an Individual Education Plan, which can include special education and therapies. For any of you guys with kids with disabilities, Google or Wiki these topics, then spend some time on your state government websites, and/or befriend a special ed. teacher who knows the system locally. Do also investigate Medicaid elgibility - it varies by state and even county, but kids may be eligible even if their parents have high incomes/assets.

Advocacy groups might be helpful. Autism advocacy does draw in these wacko celebrities and tin hat conspiracy types, but advocates for the visually impaired might help connect you with local resources.

Medical schools and teaching hospitals have eye clinics, and some schools of optometry do as well. "Reseach projects" may sound scary, but PT and OT schools do run studies involving safe non-drug therapies done by doctoral candidates under faculty supervision.

The current trend of labelling lots of kids with Aspergers is arguably a "medicalization" of some kids who are shy/quiet/introverted and/or nerdy. It's a two-edged sword: some kids may be stigmatized by this, while others get appropriate help they otherwise couldn't afford.

Edit: Sergei, we were at a similar point about 9 years ago. My son was saying fewer words than his friends and not pronouncing certain sounds well. We went through testing through the school, and got a 2nd speech evaluation through insurance (being hesitant to face reality). We were tipped off that showing a clear level of parental interest helps to get plugged in with the school speech therapist. The therapy worked really well, allowing my kid to do well in school and fit in socially really well. We know other parents who remained in denial, and their kids are growing up with limited verbal skills and/or sounding like those Roman guys from Life of Brian.

[Pun]

You know what? I just gotta say that for all the shit we talk about each other, for all the jokes we crack, for all the seemingly tasteless stuff we say, this thread is proof positive that no one takes it seriously, and that when it comes right down to it, we really do like each other. Everyone on this board needs to read this thread.

[derfsucks]

Our biggest concern right now is, sadly enough, getting our two-year-old son in for a quick evaluation. He's beginning to exhibit some of the same behaviors as his brother, and while we're pretty certain it's just a case of him mimicking his bro (Landon's entire world revolves around Drayke), we just have to make sure to put our minds at ease.

I think that a lot of the things that make all of this so hard to us is that as parents, we never had a clue (or never would have had a clue) to think of Asperger's/Autism or anything of the sort. I'm goofy, my wife's goofy - we just assumed all of the 'signs' of Autism/obsessive-compulsive behaviors/etc. were just quirks and personality traits. Drayke went through about six months of appointments/assessments before we took it seriously that he might really be autistic - and it wasn't because we were in denial or anything, we just really didn't see it as easily as the docs did. Now, the more we've read up about autism, the more we say, "Oh geez, that list of things right there is small and subtle and we'd have never thought that any of those behaviors of his were signs to anything."

I mean, Drayke was diagnosed as legally blind at around one year old, and while his vision is indeed tragically limited, he can already do a great many things that we were told he could never do -- i.e. identifying numbers and letters, as he's well on his way to reading these days. He's awkward socially at times, but AMAZINGLY social and many days wants nothing more than to be around people. He starts conversations with random folks when we're shopping, at the park, etc., and he's an amazing judge of character. I can't tell you how many time's we've all met someone new that the kid wouldn't even blink at (or went out of his way to keep away from) only to have us later find out some seedy details about what that person is like.

dxb, Drayke would make a fine half of the Twin Towers, heh. Docs are expecting him to top out at about 6'3" or so given his rate of growth thus far. He's a four-year-old man, heh. Plus, he watches RAW with me. I think he likes watching lucha libre better, because everyone's all masked up like superheros and supervillains, but still, he's got a good tolerance for the stuff already.

[Byrntrigan]

Apr 6, 2008 10:22:44 GMT -5 derfsucks said:

dxb, Drayke would make a fine half of the Twin Towers, heh. Docs are expecting him to top out at about 6'3" or so given his rate of growth thus far. He's a four-year-old man, heh. Plus, he watches RAW with me. I think he likes watching lucha libre better, because everyone's all masked up like superheros and supervillains, but still, he's got a good tolerance for the stuff already.

That's a little weird that you say that about drayke's height - I'm only 6' 00" and Draven at 4 1/2 yrs old is already like 4' 6" tall. He's bit tall for his age. Doc projects him to be something like 6' 7" - he's also 60 lbs and really strong (I rough house alot with him) for his age. The damn kid could grow up to be the Undertaker

Yeah, Draven really likes lucha as well. I figure because I got him into comic books and cartoons (Spider-Man is his favorite).

Apr 6, 2008 7:10:36 GMT -5 Pun said:

You know what? I just gotta say that for all the shit we talk about each other, for all the jokes we crack, for all the seemingly tasteless stuff we say, this thread is proof positive that no one takes it seriously, and that when it comes right down to it, we really do like each other. Everyone on this board needs to read this thread.

Yep. I agree, I mean I've only been a part of the group for a month and I can honestly say I didn't even hesitate to share my story because derf nneds to know others are out there and you can deal with it. Not a knock on OOver there but I would probably have never been this active or shared personal type info (even though the core group of us are from OOver ther) - PH just seems more family and less gang warfare ;D (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Oh and junkie - thanks for the kind words, but I don't consider myself different then any other parent. I'm blessed with a great kid who can and will be highly functional now and when he's older, and I have skills that parents that have been doing it for 20 years can't / don't do.

I'm like the muthafucking BeastMaster of Children.

[Batman]

Apr 6, 2008 11:40:47 GMT -5 Byrntrigan said:

Oh and junkie - thanks for the kind words, but I don't consider myself different than any other parent. I'm blessed with a great kid who can and will be highly functional now and when he's older . . .

This is an important point of contention. Since this thread started, I've been doing a little online reading about autism and ASD (autism spectrum disorders) and one of the first things I happened upon was this article, where the author Alex Plank--founder of a website about and for people with Aspberger's--criticizes a claim made by David Kirby--a journalist who wrote a book about autism and vaccination--that Autism: The Musical would mislead people that most autistic people are just a little quirky and that it isn't a serious condition.

To me it seems clear that both sides are right, and that it's important that people don't just see one of the two sides of this problem.

People with high functioning cases don't need the stigma of people assuming they are essentially retarded, and people with low-functioning cases don't need the misperception that autism is just a personality quirk that isn't a serious and tragic obstacle to having any sort of normal life.

[OpTard]

but the real question is, is david kirby related to jack kirby?

on a related sidenote. a good buddy of mine is related to bill sienkiewicz, and he always refers to him as "billy." cracks me up every time.

on an otherly related other sidenote. ya know who has 2 autistic kids? vic mackey. you know, micheal chiklis on the shield. you know, the best show ever. and i could be wrong, but i think micheal chiklis might have an autistic kid too, which it why it plays so heavily on the show. but i could be wrong about that.

either way, if anyone in this thread doesn't watch the shield, purchase, netflix or download the DVDs and watch them. it's fucking awesome.

[Byrntrigan]

Apr 6, 2008 12:48:52 GMT -5 OpTard said:

ya know who has 2 autistic kids? vic mackey. you know, micheal chiklis on the shield. you know, the best show ever. and i could be wrong, but i think micheal chiklis might have an autistic kid too, which it why it plays so heavily on the show. but i could be wrong about that.

I've read that as well. derf - we aren't the Beastmaster of children.

We are the Mutherfucking Vic Makey of Parents!

[creepy]

When does the last season start?

Actually, my uncle is autistic. He's about 50 and some doctor told my grandmother that she came in contact with someone with the german measles during pregnancy. That was the late 50's, so I have no idea if that's legit or not.

Jeff can do that wierd quick math ummm....'trick'. Kinda fun to bust that out at the holidays.



The Beastmaster rules, btw.

[OpTard]

i saw a commercial that just said "fall 2008." whatever the hell that means.

[Byrntrigan]

My quess would be Q3 ;D

[Byrntrigan]

Just to revive this old ass thread, The Shield starts 9/2/2008.


That is all...

[OpTard]

yeah. and the douches are putting out season 6 on DVD on the SAME DAY!

way to give people time to catch up douchebags!

[Byrntrigan]

You'll be able to get them a week or 2 sooner off the newsgroups. You could catch up that way...