If a mother is autistic, she may not know how to interact with a child properly. As crazy as this seems, maybe she thought she WAS doing the right thing for the child. What makes me think this is that she put him in a fun bouncer in a presumably safe room with a kid's show that she probably thought would "teach" the child. Maybe that's what "she" saw as normality. Maybe she doesn't know or doesn't want to admit that she is disordered. Now, the child may have inherited autistic tendencies from her as well as this experience bringing it out moreso. After all, that baby has her DNA. The problem with autistic people is that they see themselves as fine and without any problems especially if they keep away from others who are NT. When they shut themselves off, they don't have to hear that they are weird or different, etc.... Years ago some people on the spectrum were described as painfully shy. Actually "painfully shy" is disordered.
Like gadgets for instance, the NT world thinks that tv and videos cause ADD. A lot of people who invent gadgets have ADD and they invent the things that they love. If a kid "likes" getting absorbed by a gadget or a tv, he alread HAS what some people consider a disorder. Something is called a disorder when it disrupts what another person sees as order. If the majority of the world sees something as a disorder, then it is a disorder because of majority rule. A social, NT kid will move away from the gadget eventually to seek social companionship.
If the NT child doesn't get companionship, they'll cry, they'll demand, their behavior will get bad. They won't stay there with the gadget! They'll rebel because they need and want people. They need to socialize. Like DW a mom said, the NT kid can't tolerate it for long.
Now, if the child was theortically beaten down to shut up and take it, he can be brought back by special ed and therapy after a couple of years at most. If it takes longer or the child doesn't respond at all, then the child wasn't made autistic but actually "is" autistic. A lot of times, some people with addictions are found to be spectrum disordered. They do it because the social world is horribly uncomfortable for them. It feels COLD. So, they eat, drink, drug, whatever. It's really very hard to cut through all the neuro diversity in the world because sometimes it doesn't always stand out to where you can see it readily. An NT mom needs companionship and assumes her baby needs it too. It may be pleasurable to them both. An autistic mother has an idea of what pleases herself too and feels it will please her baby as well. The child's happiness depends on what was done right for them as an NT or autistic individual. Once, I held a one-year-old who was later diagnosed as profoundly autistic. I honestly felt that this child was uncomfortable in my arms(the child just drooped like a sack of flour) whereas an NT child was SO comfortable that she protested when being returned to her mom. There's big differences even in infancy. Spectrums are very diverse. There's a spectrum for NT behavior as well. Believe it or not, there is a disorder where some people are TOO social. There has to be a healthy balance - like the three bears - just right. When you hear "spectrum", it's genetic.
Last edited by RightGalaxy on 20 Jan 2012, 9:54 am, edited 2 times in total.
19 Jan 2012, 4:15 pm
