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Another mother whose child attends the School of Autism here. I too am deeply thankful for this school and worry about its future. The School of Autism is the only place where I trust my son is honored, understood, supported, and encouraged in a loving manner. I fear the misunderstandings, misconceptions, and myths about what autism is are way more harmful to my son than the autism itself. I feel tremendous frustration when I see posts like the blogger's that showcase parents' fear that their children will be autistic. My frustration isn't with the parents - I understand the fear is based on the negative, hopeless images our culture put out there. It's with the organizations and media that keep using this notion that autism is a tragedy to try to get money. My son is not a tragedy. Perhaps if we could get more accurate images out there - it's not a cakewalk, but it's joyful, too, just like with any kid - our schools will not turn on our kids when they hear the word autism or see an IEP.

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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