[blparent] Anyone Who Has a Child WithAutism?

[Rene Latorre]

Hello All,

I've been looking for resources regarding parenting blind a child with
autism. I haven't found a lot of help in this area. Although I can
find plenty of information on autism resources, I'm just not finding a
lot involving a blind parent and the unique challenges this brings.

I'm a mom of four beautiful children ages 23, 21, 9 & 6. They are all
sighted and typically developing other than my youngest. He is sighted
but was diagnosed on the spectrum at the age of 2. At first, he seemed
to be mild, but now as he is getting older he has been moving more
towards classic autism. He goes to a 6-1-1 self contained classroom
for children with autism and has a one to one personal aid. He is
mostly nonverbal although he can say 1-3 word phrases when highly
motivated such as when he is requesting things that he wants.  He has
been receiving services (speech, OT, Special Ed) since diagnosis but
progress has been slow. I constantly search for resources from his
team of professionals but I often get limited responses when asking
questions that are specific to my blindness parenting issues.

I'm mainly looking for others who may also happen to have any children
on the spectrum.  Over the years, I have developed many tips &
techniques in parenting my children, but everything seems to go out
the window when parenting my youngest. I struggle with knowing where
he is, getting him to come to me when I call for him, following
directions, etc. Also, he is bright and he has it all figured out that
I cannot see and he takes full advantage of that.

If anyone in this group can offer any support and/or information, I
would be very appreciative. Thanks in advance.

Rene