Why does co-morbidity sound so.............morbid?

In our last class, Introduction to Counseling with Larry Welkowitz, at Antioch New England University New England, we talked quite a bit about comorbidity. If you are asking yourself if that has anything to do with dying, it doesn't. Comorbidity is the presence of more than one mental disorder occurring in an individual at the same time. Could they have come up with a more positive name?! Surprisingly enough comorbidity is common, and not in just in the Autism Spectrum Disorders communities. It is rare for someone to walk into a counselors office and have one lone diagnosis. Human beings are complex. It would be silly to assume that all of our problems would fit neatly inside a box. As Americans, we really like things to be neat and tidy. Unfortunately, as we learn as we grow more mature, none of us fit into that tiny box.
We also heard from Kathleen Seidel who is the parent of a child on the spectrum. She has done much work researching the effectiveness and roots of many of the "hot" treatments in Autism and Aspergers. Her website, Neurodiversity.com, is a wealth of information and is certainly worth a look. I have always been skeptical of any program that offers a "cure" for Autism. It is easy for me to be skeptical. I am not a parent, let alone a parent with a child with autism searching desperately for some way to reach my child. I understand the need for parents to find something that works, but I do also urge caution. Autism is the "it" disability and just like everything else in America, people will exploit it to make a buck. Kathleen Seidel offers a critical look to these treatments.
Finally, we heard from Andy Sylvia who recently ran for State Representative in New Hampshire. Andy is the only candidate in politics who was "out" with his Asperger's diagnosis. He lost. That is not a commentary on who he is or what he stands for. What an absolutely fine young man. I was enthralled by his description of his childhood, adolescence and now adulthood. I was intrigued that his high school experience sounding much like mine. I wish he could know that most people in high school feel like outcasts, that experience is not because of Aspergers.

See you next time,
Sara

All Day Alone on a Bus?

Last week in Hartford, Connecticut an atrocity was perpetrated on a four year old autistic preschool student. According to the Hartford Courant article, All Day Alone on Bus, the nonverbal preschool student was one of four special education students being dropped off at Burr Elementary School in Hartford. He fail to exit the bus and was consequently left alone in the bus yard from the time the morning run ended until the driver re boarded the bus to begin his/her afternoon run at 2pm.
What a disgraceful reflection on the bus company, monitor service, Burr Elementary School and the state of special education in inner city schools. I work in a suburban school system in Connecticut and can tell you that this would never happen there. The bus monitor and the driver of the bus were consequently fired. But as far as I can tell, the school received a slap on the wrist. They are now required to call and find out why a child is not in school. Something teachers and office staff of suburban schools have been required to do for a very long time. I know inner city schools are over crowded and under staffed, but to mishandle a situation of this magnitude is inexcusable. The child is non-verbal. Can you imagine how devastated a typical 4 year old would be in that situation? I cannot even fathom how scared that child must have been and what kind of trauma the incident caused to that child.