Asd support group | Imamother

amother

↑ Lightcoral ↓

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 7:55 am

Definitely adults will be welcome. We welcome anyone with any insight into the world of ASD. The focus will be on understanding ASD people. I'm thinking now that we could specifically ask some ASD people to be on staff to contribute.

Our thinking is that as neurotypicals, it is easier for us to understand the neurodiverse than for the neurodiverse to understand us so we should be coming towards them more, understanding them more rather than expecting them to come towards us.

So while this will be a support group, and we really hope we will be supporting each other, it will also be a place to grow, to gain insight and to share our unique challenges.

I'm staying amother on this thread because I don't want to give over my identity at this point.

amother

Steelblue

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 8:00 am

amother Lightcoral wrote:

I’m very interested

amother

↑ Lavender ↓

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 12:53 pm

amother Lightcoral wrote:

This sounds great! I'm always so frustrated on how ASD is portrayed in the frum community. When I tell people I'm autistic they don't believe me. They laugh actually. Like it's a joke or something.

The biggest comment I get is "But you don't look autistic". Like am I supposed to be wearing a Tshirt with large letters that say "I'm autistic"?

amother

↑ Slategray ↓

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 5:36 pm

amother Lavender wrote:

I think a huge part of that is the perception of what autism is in general. Most people don't think of ASD as a spectrum - especially with the fact that now every variation gets tossed in there, instead of using things like ASD, Aspergers, HFA separately. So they hear ASD, assume you mean the older view of autism, and don't realize that a higher functioning version is out there.

(On a side note to that, I can't watch The Good Doctor - my son's version of autism is so many miles from this that I can't view it as being part of autism. I'm guessing on the old system the doctor would be HFA at least. It's stuff like this that makes me miss the old terminology!)

amother

↑ Mint

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 9:09 pm

amother Hosta wrote:

How do we join?

So they now have weekly talks on zoom. You can also call in. They answer questions live with parents. https://handsonapproaches.com/join-us-live/ (Last weeks link but it’s the same every week.)

They are doing a summit for parents in November and opening up the support group then. Best bet is to be in their email list. www.handsonparents.org. They are also on instagram. www.Instagram.com/handsonapproaches.

They have been such a lifeline in the community and support. Hope it helps you too.

amother

↑ Lavender ↓

Wed, Sep 14 2022, 4:07 am

amother Slategray wrote:

I don't think the old terminology worked personally. I was too high functioning to really meet the criteria for Asperger's. And Asperger's was really based on what autistic men look like anyway and on stereotypes that weren't true, like lack of empathy. High functioning autism was not a diagnosis. I was told I'm either Asperger's or autistic or PDD but I don't officially meet the criteria for a specific one so I got slapped with all three.

amother

Kiwi ↓

Wed, Sep 14 2022, 5:29 am

Just a thought, but I don't think it's a good idea to put too many issues into one group. I'm in a forum for parents of kids with ASD and while parents as individuals can get a lot of benefit from talking to professionals and talking to people with ASD, there are also a lot of issues that are specific to parents. And it's nice having a group just for that.

Unless it's a very small group I'd do separate groups for eg parents of teens with ASD, parents of younger kids with ASD, parents of girls with ASD, living with ASD, shared forum for everyone. Obviously there'd be overlap because plenty of parents of kids with ASD have ASD themselves, or are professionals, or have both younger and older kids with ASD. The idea is to split up topics not people.

And non-ASD issues deserve their own forum.

All just IMHO.

amother

↑ Kiwi

Wed, Sep 14 2022, 5:34 am

Quote:

(On a side note to that, I can't watch The Good Doctor - my son's version of autism is so many miles from this that I can't view it as being part of autism. I'm guessing on the old system the doctor would be HFA at least. It's stuff like this that makes me miss the old terminology!)

That's because The Good Doctor is a horribly inaccurate portrayal of autism. The main character doesn't act autistic, he acts like someone who just landed yesterday from outer space. He literally asks "but what is love? why do people get married?" because those are totally concepts that a 30-year-old man would be encountering for the first time and need to ask about at work.

Plus of course it's Hollywood Autism which means it's basically a superpower. He understands every branch of medicine with the power of autism, and also mechanical engineering, because why not.

To be fair the show doesn't try to be realistic in any way ,not just when it comes to autism.

Point is just that that particular show is nowhere on the spectrum, old or new system.

amother

↑ Lightcoral ↓

Wed, Sep 14 2022, 6:47 am

amother Kiwi wrote:

Thank you for that. We're focusing on ASD so while other people are welcome, that is not our focus at the moment. The support groups are split

There are also open areas which anyone can join.

The specialists we are bringing on board each have their own specialty. The sessions they give will be open to everyone but the subject will be specific. We have one who specializes in women with ASD, one in teen boys with ASD, one in the genetics of ASD etc.

I wish we could open for all issues but it is too overwhelming. If parents of ADHD for example need something similar, it would have to be completely separate. We are working on this one step at a time and high functioning ASD seems to be the biggest need at the moment.

amother

↑ Hosta

Wed, Sep 14 2022, 11:56 am

amother Lightcoral wrote:

Thank you for that. We're focusing on ASD so while other people are welcome, that is not our focus at the moment. The support groups are split

This is exactly what I am looking for. I am dealing with 2 teens with ASD diagnosis. How do I access this?

amother

Milk

Wed, Sep 14 2022, 12:04 pm

amother Slategray wrote:

It's like that in general society too, not just the frum world. I should have been diagnosed with Aspergers but got my diagnosis after they changed terms. I tell people I have Aspergers anyway. No one thinks of Aspies as being ASD and they just get confused. There's too much of a range under the ASD umbrella for it to click for most people.

amother

↑ Lightcoral ↓

Wed, Sep 14 2022, 12:42 pm

amother Hosta wrote:

This is exactly what I am looking for. I am dealing with 2 teens with ASD diagnosis. How do I access this?

I'll post the link as soon as it is live, hopefully before Rosh Hashana. If not, (it depends very much on the professionals having time on their schedule) straight after Sukkos.

amother

Skyblue ↓

Thu, Sep 15 2022, 1:14 am

amother Lightcoral wrote:

Thank you for that. We're focusing on ASD so while other people are welcome, that is not our focus at the moment. The support groups are split

This sounds fantastic! As a parent of teen son with HFA, there is very little support in my community and I'd love to connect with other frum mothers.