I have this friend, let's call her Zoe!! I don't know her very well but we have stacks in common;
1. We both have kids with autism
2. Both of those kids are boys
3. Our boys are the same age
4. Both of our boys have the same core deficits
5. We are both passionate about RDI (Relationship Development Intervention)
6. We both have started schools for the sake of children with ASD
We do have a few differences;
1. My child is non-verbal and bloody useless when it comes to academics (not that this bothers me you understand!)
2. Zoe's son has Asperger's (if I can be so blunt, Zoe's son is high functioning and mine is low!!)
3. Zoe lives in a cold country and I live in a hot one!! :)
4. Zoe can get funding for her school (I wish!)
Zoe has also started a blog, however, unlike me she has chosen a theme for hers. For those interested please check out; notnigellanotjamie.blogspot.com
As for my theme, unfortunately I can't think of one................ other than autism that is! That will have to do for now :)
I think we are actually psychic sisters because just as you posted this Di, I posted a reply to your comment on my blog - asking you to do a 'guest' slot on my blog.
ReplyDeleteAs you point out, our kids are at different places on the spectrum but they still share the same core deficits, and whilst RDI doesnt work on learning difficulties (in the 'IQ less that 75' sense of the phrase) it does work on the core deficits of autism for both boys.
Re the term 'high functioning'.....I do wish there was a better way of describing what is meant here. I understand why it's used - it's become common parlance after having been around for so long, but actually it gives a false impression that those who are at this end of the spectrum are somehow not as impaired by the impact of their autism. I think that is true for some people, but it's not true as a generalisation. Philip's ADOS score (which measures the severity of the autism) was initially 19 out of 22. I've yet to meet a child with a higher score than that (this is one of those times when a high score isn't good news!!) Thanks to RDI, Philip's ADOS score is now down to 12 :):)
Re a theme for your blog Di - I think it's prefect as it is :) Thanks for inspiring me to start my own blog.
Zoe, how hilarious is that!!!! Happy to do a guest slot :-)
ReplyDeleteI do know what you mean about the term 'high' (or 'low') functioning. How best could we explain it to people who don't have much knowledge of autism??