As a parent of a child on the spectrum, I often am aware I see the world through different eyes than many others. I could rant and rant about my experiences at the ER regarding the lack of knowledge Nurses, Technicians, and even Doctors have about Autism. Often I find myself feeling like, "Wait a minute, you have the PHD, the Education, I'm just a stay at home Mom currently, why do I feel like I know more about my son's MEDICAL condition than you do?"
I know that many parents share this feeling with me. I know this because in order to provide myself my OWN therapy I spend time talking to other parents who truly understand what my life entails and what it can be, the trials, the triumphs, both produce tears for different reasons. I don't expect all medical professionals to understand the deep aspects- as every child with Autism is different. I often come across a saying on the web, "When you have met one child with Autism, you have met ONE child with Autism." And that is very accurate, each has their own personalities, I don't like spiders- you may not like snakes.
A child with Autism may love Sponge Bob, while another child, like mine (specifically to Patchy the Pirate), runs screaming through the room as though aliens have invaded, the building is falling down, we are all going to either be beamed up or die and it's mass hysteria.
What I do kind of expect when I go to any medical professional that doesn't SPECIALIZE in Autism, is at least a brief knowledge, some things are more common than others. If I say my son is Autistic, you should know to speak in short brief sentences because Auditory Processing Disorders are very common with Autism. You should know that you might want to ask before you touch him, you know, get his permission, he's not stupid, he understands you- but may not like you touching him so just explain what you are doing! This will save you from suffering the wrath of his super human strength-something which many Autistic children exhibit as well.
I know customer service isn't as high in demand as it was years ago, but I can assure you, any medical professional that took the time to educate themselves further on Autism? Would have patients for life. And what many people don't realize? Is that a lot of us talk, there aren't many places we can go- we find each other on facebook, at events that are especially for our kiddos, at places that are "ASD Friendly". We have a strong word of mouth and an ambition to make sure that we help every other parent dealing with having a child with "Special" Abilities.
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