Comments on: Marcus’ Story

By: christopher

christopher — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:23:40 +0000

Thank you for sharing that gem Ben. You sound like a great dad – “so that I only see the things he does that indicate autism as parts of his character.” Marcus is obviously a lucky guy to have lucked upon such parents.
It’s heartening also to hear the role obstetrician played in facilitating economic assistance.

By: Martin Sullivan

Martin Sullivan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:01:49 +0000

Thanks for marcus’ story Ben – its told with love.

By: Ben Wilson

Ben Wilson — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:42:36 +0000

Thanks for your responses.

Alyson, I guess what I’m saying is that the autism spectrum is still a spectrum, there are a cluster of features that identify someone as autistic, and the degree of presence of those features places you somewhere on the spectrum. Marcus displays some of the typical ones, but a number of the other ones not so much – he is, for example, very outgoing, tries to talk to everyone, makes an effort to learn to speak.

I pretty much accept the way that he is, but what I was getting at about being ‘conflicted about talking about it’ is that I don’t want to convey the impression that I think autism is an illness with clearly identifiable causes and cures. And yet, in Marcus’ case, leading him away from some of the features does seem to benefit him.

As for his disability, I don’t really consider the autism to be part of that. His disablement is mostly physical, and therapy is helping a great deal with it. There does seem to be a connection between improvement in that and lessening of the classically autistic features – bodies and minds are closely linked after all.

By: Giovanni

Giovanni — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:17:49 +0000

That’s lovely Ben, thank you for that.

By: Alyson Bradley

Alyson Bradley — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:52:53 +0000

Ben to me their is no ‘mildly’ autistic, we are on the autism spectrum or not, its how we interact, visualize and sense the world around us, like a deeper connection with the world, animals etc… that surrounds us, even patterns holds our interest more than chit chat and other people at times, our intense focus almost an obsessive self interest, selfish in away but like a stabilizer and in that respect a need.
We can overload from living with others, sensory wise and simply someone else around can distract send us into chaos, make it impossible to fully focus. For me relationships not easy, so being a wife, mother even harder.. but the key is understanding and knowing our strengths and having to mask our weaknesses, because society has certain expectations for parents, wives etc.. to act and be a certain way and to protect those around us we have to do that, which not only is extremelly demanding, but exhausting, no wonder we disconnect from the world from time to time – find a desensitizing safe zone… i do not see my self as having any disabilities as such and I am quite neurologically complex.. but society often disables me!

To me we vary because of our many neurological differences that often come with autism, like brain damage, mental illnesses, intellectual learning differences etc… which individuals can have on or off the spectrum and to remember everyone of us on or off the autism spectrum are unique individuals… and it seems the more co-morbid’s the harder it is for each individual on the spectrum and so simply for some of us it will always be that bit harder in the world, personally I feel privileged to view and see the world the way I do. Also having an extremelly understanding partner, parents etc… and most of all embracing and allowing the individual helps and as parents being on the spectrum and also having a child on the spectrum, I have found listen to my own instincts we all know our children best and as all parents naturally do, give support and encouragement where needed, because as much as we give any child, we often learn more in return.

By: Sacha

Sacha — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:13:34 +0000

Thanks, Ben