Dandello, your advice seems sound to me. Thanks for sharing!
Mouserocks, I'm sorry your family has had such difficulties; I'm glad my story provided some hope for you on your cousin's behalf. I firmly believe that there are interventions out there which will help any child to live a more fulfilling life. I also think that there is no one intervention that will work for all children; at this point, it is a matter of trial and error to find what will work for an individual. (Some interventions work for more kids than others.) And how much improvement may occur may well vary from child to child.
Barring a major miracle, my son will never have the ASD label removed from him. He probably will never live independently. (He's almost 11 years old and he still need help with the most basic of hygiene issues, for example.) But thanks to the hard work of his teachers, therapists, and doctors, and thanks to the various interventions I've been able to put into place and to do with him, he no longer spends his days just sitting still or wandering aimlessly and whining. He is able to use an iPad app to communicate some of his basic wishes. (He has several other edutainment apps he enjoys playing with, as well.) He enjoys modified games of chase, likes going for walks and swimming, and enjoys interacting with people. My thoughts about him are similar to what I had Clark think about Temple Grandin's life in my story: I would not want to live his life, but his life isn't mine to live. The important thing is that he seems quite happy with it.
I plan to do what I can to see that he develops whatever life skills he is capable of and to see that, to the extent he is able, he lives his life to the fullest. Mouserocks, if your cousin has people in his life that try to do the same for him, then you have reason to hope for him. And if my story has helped give you some hope, then it was well worth the effort to write.
Joy,
Lynn
