To those of you who don’t know, April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day.
Hooray! Woo!
So, to celebrate here is a book all about autism.
Lily loves her half-brother, Adam, but she has always struggled with him, too. He’s definitely on the autism spectrum, though her step-father, Don, can barely bring himself to admit it, and caring for him has forced Lily to become as much mother as sister. All Lily wants is for her step-father to acknowledge that Adam has a real issue, that they need to find some kind of program that can help him. Then maybe she can have a life of her own.
Adam’s always loved dolphins, so when Don, an oncologist, hears about a young dolphin with cancer, he offers to help. He brings Lily and Adam along, and Adam and the dolphin, Nori, bond instantly. Even though Lily sees how much Adam loves Nori, she also sees that the dolphin shouldn’t spend the rest of her life in captivity, away from her family. Can Adam find real help somewhere else? And can Lily help Nori regain her freedom without betraying her family?
This story is one big emotional headache. There’s too much sadness going on in this book. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a good book, and it gives a look into severe autism. But you should know that not all autistic people are like this.
Adam and all the other kids at the autism school in this story are on the severe side of the spectrum, the ones who are kind of hard to keep still and don’t talk. This story shows that if you suspect your child is autistic at a young age, get them diagnosed and get them help as soon as possible. If you wait too long, they may never get the help they need. I should know. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was fifteen, and by then, no one was willing to help. But todays’ schoolteachers are being trained to handle kids with autism. Something I didn’t have.
I also learned that dolphin-assisted therapy might not actually work. I won’t go into all the sciencey junk behind it, but in a nutshell, swimming with dolphins has shown to relax a child with autism. But does being relaxed really help an autistic child in the long run? Swimming with dolphins is a fun experience for anyone, but it’s not a proven therapy, and you should use treatments that are proven to work.
To quote the book, “An autistic child will grow up to be an autistic adult.” So, make sure your autistic child is given the proper treatment, or they won’t be able to handle adult life.