When I was a sophomore in high school, I had the pleasure of babysitting a pair of eight year old twins. These girls were spunky, funny, sweet, and very strong for their age. Taking care of them meant coming home with bruises, scratches, and dirty clothes. What made these girls so difficult to take care of? Well, they were autistic twins.
At that time, I didn't understand autism very much. I did notice that the girls had slightly different facial structure, and they were very aggressive. There were popsicles in the fridge, and the girls knew this...so they would dangerously balance on a flimsy stool to reach the popsicles. When I arrived on the scene to stop them, they attacked me! They simply attacked me. And it's strange, because I knew that in their minds, they probably believed they were maybe two years old...or even younger.
My mom and dad are a study in selflessness when it comes to caring for my special needs brother. Now 21 years old, my brother was adopted at the age of 2 months. No one knew anything was wrong with him at the time, but at the age of 5, he was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, a disorder on the autism spectrum.
John has been in group homes for the past 7 years, visiting his parents every weekend. Recently, however, it became obvious that his needs were not being met in this setting. The clients living with him were severely handicapped, but John craved conversation and interaction with "normal" people. At this point, my parents decided to have John move back home with them.
I live in a joint family and am taking care of an autistic girl child who is ten years old. She was two years old when her mother (my sister-in-law) took her to a pediatrician who diagnosed her as an autistic child.
An autistic child is very special and needs special care. Though they look normal, they have very unusual behavior and
speech pattern. But even before the doctor could diagnose her mother
felt that something was wrong with her.
She started sending her to a special school. She would just walk around
in the class, wouldn’t listen when told stories and didn’t play with
other children. She would repeat the same thing again and again for a
long period of time and express her needs rather than her emotions.
The problem started when the school was not using appropriate methods
and her condition started deteriorating. It was always very stressful
for my sister-in-law to look after the child. So I decided that I should
also help her in taking care of the child so that she is relieved of
the stress and became a caregiver for her day to day care.
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