This is Autism Awareness Month and Linda Trent of Toto has been guiding us through the world of autism. She is the grandmother of two autistic grandchildren.
Linda says the thing that parents and autistic children mostly need is help and support.
“If you do know somebody that has autistic children, offer to help because it’s difficult,” explained Trent. “In the case of my daughter, she has a sister and me and that’s about all the help she has. Now that I have my oldest grandson going into high school, I’ve had the sad fact of seeing people drop them as friends because they can’t take a child that’s making a lot of noise or they won’t overlook a quirk or something. We all have quirks and it’s not something the child can help. It’s sad, but sometimes they do recognize that they’re different.”
April is Autism Awareness Month and we have been discussing the disease this week with Linda Trent of Toto who is the grandmother of two autistic grandchildren.
We asked Linda Trent if autistic children can usually develop enough living skills to live on their own, or work as adults.
This is Autism Awareness Month. Linda Trent of Toto has two grandchildren who are autistic, and she is helping us understand the needs of autistic children, their parents and grandparents.
One controversy that has raged for the past few years is that vaccinations cause autism. Even though much research has been done on the correlation between the vaccinations and the disease, most medical experts dispel it as untrue.
“Most people I talk to that have had autistic children, they are not opposed to vaccinations,” said Trent. “What they’re opposed to is giving a child eight or ten in a row. When you think about it, when we were younger we had a few and some we didn’t get. We didn’t get the massive amounts and we didn’t them as infants and small children. Now, if you don’t have a certain quota of vaccinations by the time the child is in Kindergarten, they’ll throw your child out of school. We’re not saying don’t. We’re saying maybe the vaccinations could be done differently.”
April is Autism Awareness Month and Linda Trent, who lives near Toto, is the grandmother of two grandsons who have been diagnosed with autism.
Although little is known about the care of autism, it is known that it affects information that is processed in the brain. Signs of the disease usually show up in a child between the ages of two and three, although some children regress into the disease as they get a little older.
Trent says that people have a hard time being around an autistic child.
“A lot of times when people see a child acting up they think, ‘Somebody should do something about that brat’, said Trent. “That brat isn’t a brat. That child can not help the activities they’re doing. Whether it’s clapping their hands or tapping on things, or making odd noises, they cannot help it. They need a lot of help in school. Many of them have a para-pro to assist them through the school system. It’s difficult for them because many of them don’t like to feel certain fabrics or certain sounds, or even smells. They might act up when things bother them. They might not hug you if you have that hair spray or cologne on. It might upset them.”
It’s not known if the disease is diagnosed more readily than in past eras, or if more children are born with a propensity for developing into an autistic child.
“We have one in every 110 children who are diagnosed as autistic,” said Trent. “It’s four times more common in boys. If you have an autistic sibling, you’re four times more likely to be autistic. It’s just growing in numbers. Cases of autism surpasses children that have AIDS, cancer and diabetes combined.”
Tomorrow we’ll explore whether vaccinations have anything to do with autism.
