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From: Sharon
Date: 10/15/03
Time: 2:08:21 PM
Remote Name: 195.93.33.9
Hello Judy I found that what worked for me was to make contact with other parents. The first group of parents I came into contact with was when I attended a volunteers course run by the organisation that I now work for. I did the training so that I couls be as well informed as possible about the options open to Mattie when he reached school age. He was only about 18 months old at he time, but I wanted to know where he would go to school, what approaches they would use and that sort of thing. So the volunteer training which was 1 day a week for 20 weeks was great. I got lots of really relevant information and met parents of children with a wide range of difficulties. When Mattie was about 3 years old I went along to a parent support group in a city about 20 miles from us. I gained lots of information from this group and felt a sense of kinship(is there any such word?) with the other parents, some of whom I still see now. This group was great, but they had a different education authority and different social services department so different rules. I decided that we needed the same sort of thing in the area we live, so asked a social worker with access to the names and addresses to forward a letter of invitation that I had written to families of children with autism. We had about 50 people attend the first meeting. Most came along to find out what we were about. One of the hardest things was telling people we couldn't actally do anything for them or their children except offer mutal support and to share experiences. Lots of people didn't come back, but we had about 10 that did. We formed a committee and met monthly. That was nearly 7 years ago. I am no longer active in the group, but last year a new person took over running it and it is still going strong with lots of new people dipping in and out. Many of the people I met through the group have become friends. We do things with the children or just for the mums. When Wilson was younger we got involved with other siblings, I felt he gained a lot from meeting other children who had and autistic sibling. Seeking help from real friends was easy. One of my close friends became or link family. This is organised by social services and Mattie stays with her one weekend a month, which is bliss. I found organisations for autism fine on giving advice, but they can offer no practical or motional support. I would say the best place to get this is from other parents.
I'll stop now, I could go on for ever! Hope this goes some way to answering your question.
Sharon