Watching our children grow up in the world of autism and deafness, it has become harder for me to really be active in the community of autism, as it takes all our energy to just keep our children safe and well in the world. It is hard to see outside our own lives. I am grateful, however, that many people in the world, even people who don’t have children or family members with autism, are working so hard to promote awareness and that today instead of being a rare condition it is becoming one of the most discussed and researched conditions.
I am hoping through my life to also work to be an advocate and learned person in the world of autism and deafness, which is the condition that most affects us personally. That is an area of deficit today – there is little information or services on individuals with autism and deafness.
Here are a few:
- http://deafness.about.com/cs/multipledisab/a/autism.htm This web site contains this magazine pdf as well: autism and deafness article, click on the second link after you clink on this main link. (2020 sadly the second link is not good — will leave up though and search for it, it’s that important!)
- http://www.raisingdeafkids.org/special/autism/
- http://www.mugsy.org/connor113.htm
(2020 – had to delete 3 other dead links. will try and find more good links. Now need to also add links about bipolar and pans/pandas (which can look the same)….
I am encouraged that there are way more than when I started these blogs in 2006. I actually printed the Gallaudet University article (60 pages) and have read through about 30 pages of it. We also are applying for Chris to go here:
http://www.nda.com/services/autism.php
It will be hard to send him all the way to Florida, but it really sounds like they could meet his needs there.
(2020 – we pursued this HARD! I see the link is dead but left up anyway. Stopped when we got the I/O waiver in 2011. Later found out – years later – that there were some big problems with the place, but that does happen, and it doesn’t always mean the whole place is bad, or was always bad, or anything like that. There are crappy people EVERYWHERE, and GOOD people everywhere. But it was sad, the things I read about this place later when it was held in such high esteem by his for years…)
Just looked it up — wow it’s CLOSED. I didn’t realize that https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/national-deaf-academy-hit-abuse-allegations-closing-n497516
I am also thrilled that I am back in school and headed for this degree:
http://www.kent.edu/ehhs/spa/index.cfm
with
http://www.kent.edu/ehhs/sped/index.cfm
(2020, of course now those specific degree links are not working – but it is still Kent so I will leave up.I believe it was the pre-speech therapy degree (which I later changed to special ed) and the autism certification.
I also hope to get fluent in ASL either now at Lakeland (where I am currently attending) or at Kent. I hope in the end I can be of more help to my boys as well as other individuals.