>Gotta love the Internet and the Blogosphere. with a single post, an idea can spread. Monday it was a tribute to Sesame Street. Today, Momster declared a “Love Thursday” post. It sounds almost 60s hippie style until you start looking over the posts, and see that they’re mostly families. Here’s mine for today. I picked this one not for its photo quality, but for the action. El Grande loves baseball, but he can’t see well enough to play a regular game. He loves his adaptive league, and even practices in the backyard. Here you see La Petite, a decent player in her own right, catching the balls as he hits them. Yes, she offered to play with him! When they go over the fence for a “home run”, the neighbor kids (see wood playset in background) like to run for them and throw them back. The rabbit pen is in the foreground. Simple fun and sibling bonding all in one blurry photo — and yes, lots of love.

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When I read Kamran Nazeer’s Send in the Idiots: stories from the other side of autism, I read from the point of view of a mother wondering about the future for my high-functioning autistic teen. At first, I made mental notes about how the young adults in the book related to others. Their living arrangements, their interactions, and their friendships all filed themselves dutifully in my head. Andre, living with his sister: a young man who communicated with puppets and became infuriated when someone dared to interrupt. Randall: quiet, a good listener, involved in a monogamous relationship with a non-autistic person. Craig, who lived alone but welcomed guests. Elizabeth, a young woman who lived mainly with her parents but spent some of her late teens and early twenties residing in an inpatient facility for mentally ill, dealing with epilepsy and bipolar disorder in addition to autism.
Then Nazeer said that half of all autistic adults live with their parents, and my mind turned around. Half? Does he mean all autistic adults, no matter where they are on the spectrum? And since he quoted no specific source, is this statistic accurate? Frankly, it worried me more than a little.
Nazeer, who lives alone, talks about his frequent contacts with his parents, and their “…enhanced duty of care…” balanced with the “…joy that I have my independence.” (p.171)
Built into parenting is the expectation that our children will grow up, become independent, and live productive, happy lives. Suddenly that picture is blurry for me, like those optical challenges where by using a slightly unfocused stare you can see a different image emerge. The image for my 14 year old son will be somewhat different from that of a non-disabled, non-autistic person. Somehow, someway, a new image will emerge from the blurry pattern.

Nazeer talks about many other elements of autism such as the need for local coherence and challenges in language development. He also describes a meeting with his former teacher and his former counselor/therapist. I did not discuss these, but they are worthwhile parts of the book. I recommend this book to people dealing with autism, especially parents and professionals who work with families. It is an easy read and will stimulate discussion and thought.

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Every reader approaches books with a unique background and attitude. When I read Kamran Nazeer’s Send in the Idiots: stories from the other side of autism, I read as a mother of an autistic teenager. With this perspective, I read closely when Nazeer talked about his classmates’ jobs and careers.
The young autistic adults in Nazeer’s book experience a variety of successes in the working world. Andre is a computer programmer who works in research. He is an expert in patterns and code, and works on new concepts in computers such as speech. The book doesn’t spend much time on Andre’s work, perhaps because his unique social relationships take precedence.
Randall is a bicycle messenger in a large city. His autism at times interferes with his work, but he is successful overall. For example, if anything, major or minor, is wrong with the bike, he has to stop and fix it immediately. This can put him behind on delivery deadlines. His supervisor understands this, and because Randall is an otherwise excellent employee, gives him leeway to manage this.
Craig, the child who once chanted the title phrase “Send in the idiots”, is now a political speechwriter. He excels in this field and writes for many prominent candidates. He has mastered the art of the sound bite, the 20-word debate answer, and the skills to weave policy and issues into motivational phrases that will rally an audience. This type of work is unsteady, however, and his skills in written language do not transfer into the interview setting. After a major election, Craig finds himself out of work and unable to connect with potential employers, even though he is an extremely capable writer. His social limitations present a roadblock to his professional success.
Social adeptness or lack of it can be a major factor professionally and personally. Later, I’ll post a short talk about social relationships in the book – another concern parents have for their children.