Autism and the Family Quotes

“We also have a problem because sometimes we wanted to do stuff with other people, and they are not as accommodating. We wind up not going, and it looks like we chose not to go, but really we couldn’t go because there were all these factors that needed to be in place for us to go on vacation with them. We couldn’t [get them in place], and they didn’t want to bend a little bit, so we couldn’t do it. When family members have expectations that are unrealistic, parents can be placed in an awkward position of having to adapt to these expectations or explain that the expectations are unrealistic.”
― Kate E. Fiske, Autism and the Family: Understanding and Supporting Parents and Siblings

“I think what she was having a problem with was the label; she didn’t want to label him. For whatever reason, people don’t like to label things. I sort of look at it as he is who he is, it doesn’t really matter what we call it. The label gets him services that he needs.”
― Kate E. Fiske, Autism and the Family: Understanding and Supporting Parents and Siblings

“Parents will have no shortage of individuals dissuading them from seeking evaluation; professionals should think carefully before adding themselves to that group, because evaluation has very little risk, and in cases where a delay exists, the child will have everything to gain. Practitioners should also inoculate parents against caring family members who nonetheless may try to dissuade them from seeking an evaluation, and provide them with ways to explain to family the importance of the evaluation and the benefit of treatment for the child, using the arguments above about the low risks and potential high benefits of evaluation.”
― Kate E. Fiske, Autism and the Family: Understanding and Supporting Parents and Siblings