doing some good

i was going to spare myself the criticism i will likely receive by voicing *my* opinions on the rapidly growing diagnoses of autism in the United States. i really didn't want to open up such a hot button issue...bear with me though. i think i need to get it out of the way & i am going somewhere very worthwhile with this.

don't get me wrong. i absolutely believe that it exists and that it is devastating & frustrating to many families. i hope that they find a cause for it. and a cure. i mean no disrespect to the children & families who suffer at its merciless grasp. i am just a bit disgruntled by how its increase has exploded into existence--are we over-diagnosing in some instances perhaps? and it deeply concerns me that children who need therapies & interventions & specialists may not be getting everything they need as a result of some possible "reaching for a diagnosis"...

try to understand that my reservations are not harboring malicious intent. i have worked closely with children--i just don't accept all the "labels" that *some* people so desperately long to slap onto a child who is just being a child, developing at his or her own unique pace, with his or her own unique personality...and who maybe just needs a little more guidance & direction in an area of development. that's all i'm saying. i do not mean to sound insensitive to autism. i'm not at all, i promise. it just seems, at times, that this is the trendy diagnosis of the 2000s--much like ADD in the 90s. out of nowhere, every family suddenly has a child showing red-flag characteristics. i grew up with kids who could have been given these same diagnoses, but they weren't acknowledged back then as they are now...and i worked with children seven or eight years ago who would have been considered autistic on some level if then was now. and you know what? the vast majority of them show no traces or viable reasons for concern as they have matured & no formal interventions were given--they simply adjusted & "caught up" (for lack of better words coming into my mind right now).

my skepticism is based wholly on those who are quick to jump on the bandwagon of the latest "pop-diagnosis" & who take advantage of an already overwhelmed system that is designed to help, but can't, as its resources are taxed beyond their own abilities. it is when the "bad apples" are essentially taking away services that other chidren actually *need* but will now be denied to some degree, if not entirely, that i get all bound up in a tight knot. i concede that we certainly know more now than we did two decades ago, but i still can't help feeling that there are some who really stretch the limits, reaching for some way to label *their* child. this overshadows many of you who DO have to face this sort of challenge everyday. it belittles the diligent work you must do to improve your child's quality of life & capacity to succeed. it is for YOU that i am offended by a society who, by & large, wants a mere diagnosis & not an actual solution.

bottom line is i realize that this is just my opinion. and only my opinion. and my intent is not to cause a heated debate.

i really want to focus on something positive & beautiful that i saw.

something i was shown on ESPN of all places. it brought tears to my eyes in fact.

there is a program that was started by a family whose son is autistic. they found that the ocean was very therapeutic for him...and that surfing (his father is a former competitive surfer) brought something out in their son. it opened him up. it allowed him to connect & experience a freedom he was never otherwise capable of expressing. and when they saw what it brought to their son, they wanted to share it with other children & families. so they opened up a free surf camp for autistic children.


(the image is a link.)

when i saw the terror with which these children initially fought the experience tempered by the immediate, almost magical, transformation when they got out onto the water with their own professional on a surfboard...the ocean spray in their faces & the wind in their hair...the joy that shone in their facial expressions as they rode a wave back to shore. the sense of accomplishment. the "i did it!"s that they shouted. the hugs for their moms & dads. the "thank you"s...and the "i love you"s...

what a difference...if even for a few fleeting moments.

this is the sort of thing that makes me believe in the good of human nature again. and i applaud them for what they are giving to other families whose personal pain they are all too familiar with. and i revel in the happiness on the faces of these children.