Stories of Hope

angel.

4 years ago, a rather ignorant sixteen year old girl, let's call here ME, was attending a democratic school in Israel where the kinder garden was joined with the rest of the school. That's where I met an angelic,beautiful 4 year old who gave my life proportion and changed who I was in the best way possible. He was screaming his head off the first time I saw him, curled up in the sand box by the fence. no one seemed to pay attention to him so I told one of the teachers he was crying, the teacher tried to calm him down but he wont listen, he wont look him in the eyes. It turned out that he was crying because his twin sister had just lost her first tooth that morning, and he panicked because he hadn't, and couldn't understand why. "We're twins, aren't we?" he asked, wiping, truly frightened "we're supposed to do everything together." and then he whispered to him self: "what's wrong with me?". That was the moment I realized there was something different about that boy. His wit, his pure logical analyze of things, and his naive, clear thinking made me want to know more about him. So I did. I've done some research, and learned a new, fascinating word: AUTISM. That single word opened a door for me to a world I can only describe as magical. It was his brain's that made me curious about the subject, but it was the look in his eyes that made me fall inlove. With him, with the autism world in general. I now know I want to work with special kids. it was the purity, kindness, and wisdom in those baby blue's that made me believe in angels. and in myself. my future.

Anonymous
Tel Aviv, Israel

My life story

I was diagnosed with Aspergers at the age of 3. Going through school at first was okay because everyone was so accepting of me. But going into middle school, I started having some issues with peers bullying me and Aspergers made it hard for me. I didn't know how to deal with my problems and the worst part was I kind of was a bully to some girls because I felt like I thought it was okay to do it. But after middle school I realized that it wasn't right and I started to be nicer to them and since then we've been able to get along well. My freshmen year was by far the worst school experience for me ever. Starting that year I had no issues with anyone, but after the first month or so it was war at school between me and certain girls. Almost every day there would be a verbal fight between us over things I struggled with. They called me horrible names that I don't want to repeat to everyone. Life was horrible for me and my speech teacher would tell me how to handle things, but I thought I could solve it on my own. Well I couldn't so the following year they put me in social applications which worked after a while. At first I had issues with a couple of girls and some junior flipping me off constantly, but I listened to my teacher and I dealt with it the right way,sure enough it went away. Ever since then I've been able to have a good school experience. Now I have one more year left and hopefully everything turns out well.

Nathan
Fond du Lac, WI

Pierce, my amazing brother.

When my brother was 2 yrs old, he was diagnosed with Autism. I honestly don't remember my parents telling me he was different, but maybe that's a good thing. I just always remember my mom saying "God gave us Pierce for a reason." Growing up with my brother Pierce has been a life experience that I will forever cherish & I thank the Lord for giving me a brother like him. We've had our ups & downs like any brother & sister would, but just in a different forms & situations. Having him as my brother has taught me about love, kindness, learning, & most of all... patiences. I'm 17 & he's now 15. He's doing better than he ever has before learning wise. We teach him how to spell new things everyday & teach him to do daily "normal" things we do around the house. We take it day by day, through the really great moments to the down right awful ones. I honestly wouldn't know what to do without him. As much as I wish he could be that annoying little brother... I wouldnt change a thing. He made me who I am in a way. I haven't met a single person who hasn't loved my brother in some way, which is also a blessing. I love him & I will continue to make Autism more of an awareness everyday & support those that go through what my parents & I have been through. God bless.<3

Stephanie
Mechanicsburg, IL

Carlena

My little angel turn nine years old on April 15, 2012. This year the day of her birthday we had a tornado. No one was hurt but she was so terified. She has asberber sydrome. She was dignoise with at four years old. She is a very vocal, but sometimes it does not make sense of what she saids or does. I tried to get help from dhs but I get the run around here inn tahlequah, oklahoma. Her speech teacher at school said she would benefit from a state funded computer to help her commucate better with us, but of course I get the run around with the also from dhs. I dont know where to turn. My husband and I does know how to take care of her needs. She can not read or reads at a kindergarten level, but she forgets the very next day of what she read or does. Please if there is anybody out to let me know where to turn. Because this is tearing our family apart. I dont have any money because I am disabled myself, when I was hit in the throat by a austic non-verbal youth in throat with a clipboard. It hit my so hard it broke all the bones on my left side of my thyroid and did nerve damage which cause me to go blind my left eye. I know there got to be help out there, I just dont know where to go. Please help

Anonymous
welling, OK

Our Precious Son...

Our precious, tender-hearted, son who grows each of us in many wonderful ways has high-functioning autism. He is 15 years old. We home school our son. At 15 years of age, he is more like a 9 or 10 year old- he doesn't want to grow up to be a "big boy". He would be comfortable living in a world of being a little boy. He is having increased stems... to the point that he is consuming about 75% of every minute of my day... the stems are more verbal- with physical hand movements to his face. My husband and I are trying to discern which stems are calming mechanizms, and which are simply habits that he can manage with self discipline. We love this child dearly... he is so loving! He sees all people as his friend and excepts everyone as they are. Sounds great, I know. But the stems are really overpowering his day. I give him Gaba, as well as Magnesium. We really are on the fence at this point about Rx's from the doctor... for so many reasons! Any thoughts on natural treatments for anxiety that can plague aspie children?

Anonymous
los angeles, CA

The Power of Music

My name is Jason Varley. I am a musician of over 30 years. About ten years ago I began volunteering with various Autism organizations around the L.A. area. I never intended for the two (Autism and music) to come together, but so goes fate. As the years went by, I worked more and more with children with Special Needs and gained a much deeper understanding of Autism. I began to see the many ways in which music could benefit these children, and am now running a very successful music program which continues to see amazing, positive, life changing results for kids on the spectrum. These kids have had, and continue to have an amazing impact on my life and teach me just as much as I teach them...

jason varley
los angeles, CA

Autism Is Awesome

Like so many families blessed with children diagnosed with autism, I felt like I was on a different planet. My son never spoke, and after his MMR shot, we noticed a lot of strange behaviors, manifested by hypersensitivity to sounds, colors, and too many people. My family and I embarked on a journey, looking for clues to the mystery unfolding before us. Mostly by intuition, we put together techniques to help him, and us: providing a highly structured environment, applying deep, calming pressure when needed, calling ahead, always calling ahead to explain our approach to autism. Every restaurant, kids party, trips to Disney World, every situation had to be structured to help Kirk and make social occasions possible and enjoyable.
Now, Kirk is 22, highly verbal, and flourishing in a part-time job, independent living, a close-knit circle of friends. Now, I'm free to help other families. This story title came from Kirk. He realizes autism is just one more thing that makes him "awesome."

Joan Summa
Hurleyville, NY

I work for Possibili-Tees

I am a fifty five year old college graduate. I never married. I live in an apartment in my mother's house, so I have my privacy, but when I need my mother, she's right there. I have been working for Thomas Siniscalchi since 1995, first at Special Tees, a screen printing shop made for people with mental health issues, then here, at Possibili-Tees, a custom screen printing shop made to hire autistic people. I work on the computer, looking for customers

David Rubin
Staten Island, NY

He's growing up...

When my son, McKinley was a baby, he would stand in the corner of his crib every day, jump up and down and do this funny little laugh. His dad and I would just laugh and laugh. Not knowing anything then about the struggles he would face years later. McKinley was diagnosed with Classic Autism at 6. His first year of Kindergarten was rough. We got no assistance when his little "quirks" became prevalent. We were told that he was just immature and needed to repeat Kindergarten. We moved that summer and he ended up at a different school where the teacher, immediately noticed something was "off". I was grateful that someone recognized something and pointed me in the right direction. I then spent the next 9 months researching and taking him to various appointments until we got that final diagnosis. After years of being picked on by kids, struggles with reading and writing, and his feelings of inadequacy in his ability to make friends, he's now 17, and will be a senior in high school, where he's been a straight A student and received the Magna Cum Laude. He has worked so hard and is going to graduate on time. When he was first diagnosed, I wasn't sure if that was a reachable goal for him. We could not be happier! With the right teachers, environment and God, anything is possible.

Trisha
Medina, OH

My struggles and successes with multiple disablities

Starting in my early childhood, I was put into the Special Education program at the age of three due to having multiple disabilities (mild stroke and autism). I had a hard time talking and walking during my age because all I could do is point and crawl during that time. I didn't learn how to walk until I was three years old and I didn't learn how to talk until I was four. At the time, I didn't even think about my classmates being classified as "retarded" people as I played with them just anyone would do in certain situation. Although I am one of the most popular kids in Special Ed, the mainstream kids thought otherwise because they thought I was "retarded", but nothing is further from the truth. The kids would make fun of me and called me "fat kid", Alien Nation (because of my oversized head), and the kids would put me on the wall. It wasn't very fun for me in grade school and getting picked severely on because of the situation that I have no control over and I didn't have a choice at the time.

When I first entered middle school, just like grade school, I struggled with adjusting to new things and I had run-ins with bullies and troublemakers (both regular and special ed classmates). It wasn't until I was in seventh grade that mainstream kids finally accepted me thanks to my middle school TV appearance about my knowledge of Pro Football trivia (from 1960 to present). From 1995 to 1997, these were basically the happiest moments of my life.

Jason Lundgren
Edmonds, WA