One of the most insightful articles I've read on autism. It provides a glimmer of hope for parents with autistic children whose children may be part of the 10% that grows out of autism.
I didn't realize the spectrum of autism can be as prohibitively functioning as down syndrome individuals. Due to my experience with my down syndrome brother, I had assumed most of the low-cognitively-functioning individuals had down syndrome.
Last section in the long article:
“When you get too focused on ‘getting to perfect,’ you can really hurt your child. A typical kid fights back against that kind of pressure, but a kid with autism might not.
...
despite 20 years of effort to teach him so.
The idea that Matthew won’t recover no longer pains Jackie. “At some point,” she told me, “I realized he was never going to be normal. He’s his own normal. And I realized Matthew’s autism wasn’t the enemy; it’s what he is. I had to make peace with that. If Matthew was still unhappy, I’d still be fighting. But he’s happy. Frankly, he’s happier than a lot of typically developing kids his age. And we get a lot of joy from him. He’s very cuddly. He gives us endless kisses. I consider all that a victory.”
"The Kids Who Beat Autism"
By Ruth Padawer, New York Times
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