Beautiful story: "Surfing with Autism" ENJOY!

[pnwmom]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-mulvaney/surfing-with-autism_b_62586.html

SNIP

I spotted Alex last Saturday morning standing on cheesy, stationary store boogie board in about three inches of salt water on Azores Beach trying to imitate the moves of the surfers working the break out on the foggy horizon. His left hand fluttered like the surfer's, dancing and darting for balance. His knees knocked and hips swayed.


I enquired if the child needed help.

"Thanks very much," said mom, with that heartfelt tone that is unmistakably Midwestern. "But, I don't think that would be possible. You see, he's autistic."

I grinned.

"Lady, I don't know how this happened, but you have tripped upon the most appropriate place for your son on the entire planet."

SNIP

[maddezmom]

1. thanks for posting

:)

[pnwmom]

2. You're welcome.

It had made me a little teary, so I thought I'd share. . .


:hug:

[begin_within]

3. There's a guy who lives in my neighborhood,

named Mark Rimland, who was diagnosed with autism as a child, and his parents were advised to put him away in an institution, but they refused to, and brought him up as normally as possible. Now 51, he is an artist who sells his paintings regularly and does illustrations for books. He lives a relatively normal life, and we see him by himself at the local coffeehouse, where he talks with everybody. Conversations with him are about at the level of a normal 12-year-old, but still, he's a functioning member of society. He can calculate in seconds the day of the week you were born, just by knowing your birthdate. He has been featured in several films and specials about autism, and he was one of the autistic savants interviewed by Dustin Hoffman in preparation for his role in "Rain Man." He's a living example of how an autistic child can grow up to have a relatively normal life. Mark's father, Dr. Bernard Rimland, who passed away last year, published several books about autism and became something of an authority in that field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Rimland

[pnwmom]

4. Thanks, bob, for the post.

I'm sure many parents will be interested to hear about him.

[lligrd]

5. Neat Story. I Am Going To Send It To The Parents Of Autistic

children that I know. Unfortunatly, there are quite a few of them at work alone.

[pnwmom]

6. There are quite a number of them in my area, too.

My children were spread out years apart, with the first having no autistic kids in her grade -- the second, one or two -- and the third, several. Something is going on. It's not all about better diagnosis.

[lligrd]

7. I agree. Same With Asthma. nt