So, is D’s autism a “problem”?
By Jeannette | November 29, 2013
I need to have a little bit of a vent today, which is where a blog is always useful. Tap, tap, tap…and off it goes. It’s quite therapeutic.
I love the picture of D at the top of this page, she had made the wand and crown and couldn’t wait to get to school to show her TA. She was excited and happy. A complete contrast to the extremely annoyed and stone-faced child I left at school this morning, but that is life. It’s certainly never boring.
But is she a "problem"? It’s very easy to take things written down and non-verbally the wrong way but this has annoyed me today, received on a hospital letter:
And what is the definition of problem?
A problem, which can be caused for different reasons, and, if solvable, can usually be solved in a number of different ways, is defined in a number of different ways. This is determined by the context in which a said problem or problems is defined.
Now, I think I would have preferred "points of concern" or "discussion points" but not "problem".
It’s just me being silly, but I don’t see autism as a "problem". It’s our day to day life and we get on with it, some days better than others.
"Problem" suggests to me something that is solvable. Certainly in the case of any of those "problems" mentioned above, we are not receiving assistance to solve them, merely to manage. And that is how we roll.
1 Comment
Karen on 29th November 2013 at 10:07 pm.
They can call my child’s sensory issues a problem, but I think her autism is who she is, like being blonde, or tall, or blind. It has its problems, sure, but I wouldn’t want it to be defined itself as one.
Rant away, I’m hearing ya!