No one could tell us exactly what to do
Had the diagnosis been, say, diabetes, we would have been given a list of guidelines and medications — a road map for recovery. We would have looked at research and treatment protocols. Look anorexia up on Amazon, and you’ll find hundreds of titles, but we couldn’t sort the useful books from the flaky ones. And in terms of treatment, there isn’t much systematic scientific research on the disease. No one could tell us exactly how to make our daughter well.
This is from an article by Harriet Brown on anorexia—-One Spoonful at a Time in the November 26th New York Times—but the frantic helpless tone of “how might I help my child” may sound familiar to more than a few autism parents.
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POSTED IN: Anorexia, Family, Parenting, Psychiatry, Psychology, Treatment
2 opinions for No one could tell us exactly what to do
Jannalou
Nov 26, 2006 at 12:02 pm
This is what happens to those with ADHD, as well. Sure, there’s the recommended medication, but beyond that? Far too many people seem to be under the impression that pills will make it go away. Which, of course, isn’t true. And there are tons of books out there with titles like Healing ADHD (um, does it need to be healed if it’s not a disease?) and Why Isn’t My Child’s ADHD Better Yet? (probably because it doesn’t actually go away).
People capitalise on the need people have to find out what’s wrong and then fix it. We are not a society that recognises that “different” doesn’t mean “wrong”.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Nov 26, 2006 at 1:46 pm
What also came through in the article was the mother’s need to cure/help her daughter now. I understand this entirely—certainly it is the case with autism parents—-but helping a child is a slow process over time.
Now I am imagining if someone (not me) will write a book entitled Why Isn’t My Child’s Autism Better Yet?.
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