How to Plan and Define the Years To Come with Autism
What parent doesn’t worry about his/her child’s future? I’m the mother of three, and I worry about each of my children. Their happiness, their successes, their abilities to carry on and be independent. Yet the issue becomes a bit more comprehensive when a child has a disability. My youngest son, David, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) just before his second birthday. He turned 25 this year, and I found myself wondering, as I surmise most parents do, if I have made all the right choices.
One of the most weighted decisions I faced as a parent was what David would be doing after graduating high school. There would no longer be a set routine of racing to meet the morning bus, regurgitating school day events, and evaluating whether or not he was being productive on someone else’s watch. Now it was up to me, the mom.
When asked what job he wanted to pursue, David clearly stated that he wanted to be a “cartoonist,” as he branded his approach to his art. OK, that was simple enough. Yet ruminating how I would help him accomplish this forced me to face my own fears. Was I up for this challenge? Could I help him cultivate his art to the level he needed to be successful? Was this something David could actually make a living at? Would this just be organized playtime? How could I shape this into a program that would be endorsed by the state and not deemed a complete waste of time?
Read the complete article here: https://www.puppyducks.com/apm/
Back issues of this article and published magazine can be purchased at: https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/issue-67-preparing-for-adulthood-with-autism/https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/plan-define-years-to-come-autism/
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