[girliegirl]

[salma]

No matter how cruel this world gets there will always be kind people because of whom everyone gets hope.

[emeraldlizards]

Awesome!

[Vera Wang]

I used to be a support worker for adults with autism. It was the best job ever at times, and the absolute pits at other times. I worked with one guy who hated peas. If he saw them on his plate, he would hit the roof and start banging his fist while shouting that he didn't like peas. One day he went out for a meal and even after explicit instructions to leave off the peas, there was one on the plate, and he saw it straight away. He started to raise his fist when quick as a flash, the support worker leaned over and said "that pea is for flicking!" and he immediately flicked it off the plate and it hit the other support worker on the nose, who had missed the whole kick-off because he was reading the paper. The pea getting flicked along with the shock on the support workers face totally changed the autistic guy's mood in an instant. He roared with laughter and told everyone about it for weeks!
I supported another guy to go raving in Ibiza too, he was a total music lover and he could pull women without even trying. He had very limited verbal skills and liked to talk about dogs a lot, but that didn't stop women from approaching him in pubs and clubs. He is quite profoundly affected by his autism, and can't be left alone, but we gave him space in Ibiza, and just watched over him as he danced with all the women!

Best job I've ever had

[johnleeknoefler]

Shaun Hannity read this on his program this morning. I loved it.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by salma ↗

No matter how cruel this world gets there will always be kind people because of whom everyone gets hope.

They can thank both their parents and those of the waitress for raising them and not expecting schools or others to teach their children right from wrong

[HeadlessHorseman]

Originally Posted by diamondsmiles ↗

They can thank both their parents and those of the waitress for raising them and not expecting schools or others to teach their children right from wrong

Your right about that DiamondSmiles, I always teach my son to be kind, be polite, don't bully, be respectful and helpful and so on. Raising kids takes much effort and time but the rewards are beyond measure. Too many parents, if you can call them that, think all you need to do is feed them, cloth them and give them shelter.
What a great story that was.

[ldelgadillo]

made me smile, good job chili's

[Desensitisation]

In my work doing housecalls for pets, I've had a few clients with autistic children. One of my friend's sisters was also autistic, so I've had a lot of exposure to it. Got to be patient with them, and got to keep things predictable as well. And when it's not predictable, you have to go with their flow, not yours; they overprocess everything, and so you end up having to adjust your behaviour to deal with it so they can deal with it. Sometimes they detach completely and shut down when they are overwhelmed and all you can do is let them process what they need to and come back out again, though you have to also keep them engaged and focused so they don't completely internalize everything and become "locked-down".

Overall, they're a pain in the arse.

[LadyCPlum]

And I'm reading this on Autism Awareness Day