Saturday, 28 November 2009

• There is a Difference

  I read an article yesterday where the author said the following statement regarding Aspergers and Autism. "But it’s different than autism. Different. Not worse or better"  I think she was being PC and that is fine for people with over heightened sensibilities but it was also an incorrect statement.

  There is generally a “better” outcome for children with Aspergers as there is for children who have a diagnosis of High Functioning Autism, thus the distinction between high functioning and low functioning. Children on the low end will never live independently although we can never loose hope or stop striving towards that goal.  I also believe and I am grateful that in the case of someone like my son, he does have a better chance at experiencing life’s “normalcy’s” more so than a person who has no speech, is self-injurious and has a seizure disorder. That is not “just different“, it is a huge distinction with a heavy impact on an individual’s quality of life. 
  

  It is much like the stages of cancer. People with stage 1, 2 or 3 definitely have an advantage over someone with stage 4. There is a difference but one could not argue that a person with stage 4 has a worse prognosis than that of someone with a stage 1 diagnosis.  So we can agree that these differences do bring better and worse outcomes, not to diminish the suffering of those who have children with a higher level of functioning, but to provide the help that is necessary to bridge that gap and provide a better outcome for everyone.

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