Coping Strategies

For months now, Disability Scoop has been running an article about Autism Moms having stress that is similar to that of combat soldiers.  Depressing!  Every time I see it I wish they would take it down.  Not that it’s a bad article.  I just don’t need the reminder about my stress level.  It’s like saying, “Hey, you’re tall!!”  Or, “Wow, you’re incredibly gorgeous.”  People don’t need to be reminded of the obvious.

Funny that they don’t mention anything about Dads and stress.  They must handle stress differently.  Maybe they de-stress by expressing themselves through the artful expression of cartooning.

Anyway, as a public service, I thought I would list nine coping strategies for autism moms.  Why only nine?  I was way too stressed to think of one more.

9.  Bad Girl’s Club – A bunch of young women, living in a house in the Hollywood Hills, drinking, clubbing, and fighting like animals.  It’s like watching a train wreck.  Pass the popcorn!

8.  Angelina Jolie - Thinking about a rich, (almost) anorexic starlet adopting kids from all over the planet, having a small herd of her own, and the inevitable ways she will fuck them up makes me feel a lot better about my life.  Someday one of them is bound to find the vial of Billy Bob’s blood, in a drawer tucked beneath her undies.  ‘Splain that, Lucy.

7.  Angry Birds – Nothing breaks the tension like flinging birds into buildings.  Virtual birds.  Even my son appreciates the gift of the birds.

6.  All things natural - Gluten-free, casein-free, sugar-free, no red dyes, low salicylate, probiotics, fish oil, magnesium…if you’re baking gluten-free cupcakes, with sugar-free frosting, and quinoa is your favorite side item, then you are channeling your energy (and stress) into “all things natural.”  Good for you!!  Of course, you probably don’t have a lot of dinner guests….

5.  Real Housewives of (insert city of preference here) –

Super-rich, enviable socialites that show off their homes and lifestyles, only to end the season by cat-fighting over ridiculous, inconsequential things…it’s like a little gift from heaven that I get to watch them and actually think, “boy, I’m glad that’s not my life.”

4.  John Stewart – A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.  John is that sugar, world news is the medicine.  ‘Nuff said.

3.  Disney – Planning a trip to Disneyland or Disney World, acquiring the coveted Fast Pass, and using the shit out of it.  Good times.  You can read the chronicle of one autism mom’s Fast Pass adventure by clicking here.

2.  Drinking – Well duh!

1.  Blogging! - Yeah baby!  There’s a whole squadron of us sharing the humor, sadness, injustices, challenges, and adventure of this life raising a child with autism.  You don’t even have to be a writer.  Find yourself a site and start pouring your thoughts from your head to the computer.  The best part is the bloggy friendships you make along the way, and knowing you’re not in this alone!

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Everything is Bigger in Texas, Except Inclusion

 

Here is an article from Disability Scoop, which ran yesterday.  This is the kind of thing that makes me sick to my stomach.

People With Disabilities Confined Involuntarily For Decades, Suit Alleges

By Michelle DiamentJanuary 27, 2011 

A class action lawsuit filed Wednesday claims three Texas residents with intellectual disabilities have been institutionalized for a combined 130-plus years without any review of their placements and they may not be alone.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of 4,200 residents of Texas institutions identifies three plaintiffs by their initials who were placed at state facilities during their childhood or teenage years and never left.

Today the three have spent between 32 and 60 years each in state care, according to Advocacy, Inc., a nonprofit disability rights group that brought the case.

None of the three have ever had an impartial judicial review to determine if they continue to need an institutional level of care, according to the lawsuit. Yet, professionals hired by the state have indicated that each of the three could be cared for in less restrictive environments.

“An entire class of citizens is being confined by the state of Texas, with no opportunity to challenge the need for continued institutionalization, despite changes in ability, commitment criteria and increased community services,” said Beth Mitchell, senior managing attorney at Advocacy Inc.

The lawsuit names Texas Gov. Rick Perry and a handful of other state officials as defendants.

 

So then I went to the Advocacy, Inc. site, and read some of their success stories.  There I found the following:

Opal

In 1934, 16-year-old Opal had a brief psychotic episode and was committed to the Austin State Hospital. The shame and stigma of Opal’s mental illness and staff’s discouragement of visitation caused her family to drift away from her. Opal did not hear from her family again until 1985, when her nephew — whom she had never met — learned of her at a family reunion and decided to find her. He began a long battle to remove Opal from institutions, where she had been living for more than 50 years. With help from Advocacy Inc., Opal got out of state institutions and won a $505,000 verdict against the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation for negligently subjecting her to “institutionalization syndrome.” Opal died on March 15, 2005, after spending several happy years in the community, reconnecting with old friends and family members.

 

So if you’re ever considering moving to Texas….