They Will Look You in the Eye

I am the mother of three children who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Some days life in our home can be challenging with trying to meet the needs of my children. The children are all educated at home. The advantage of the children being at home is they are better able to learn the social and life skills they will need later on. There is a misconception that children on the spectrum need to be in schools so they can be "socialized". This leads many parents to make decision that may not be right for their child.

The reality is that most children on the spectrum will take longer than neuro typical children to learn social skills. We place them in classrooms where they are surrounded by other children who have inappropriate social skills where jargon and sarcasm abounds. This leads these children to be confused.

Children on the spectrum enjoy being with adults and learn appropriate social skills from adults. Our children will grow up and become adults and will spend a larger portion of their life as an adult and not a child. So why do we place them in situations that are not ideal for them to ultimately learn what they need for life.

It is my belief that kids on the spectrum should if at all possible be educated at home. They should be surrounded by loving caring adults who will support them and teach them life skills. The adults must create opportunities in loving well supervised social situations for them to interact with other children.

Most people are amazed when I tell them my kids all have Aspergers because they are each socially appropriate and they will look you in the eye.