While most of us have probably heard about autism, only a few people actually know the implications of this disease. Those are mostly the parents and relatives of the children, who have been diagnosed with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The video “Autism speaks, it’s time to listen” gives the viewers an opportunity to see the life of the people, who have to raise children with autism and to hear about their experience.
Autism is a major problem in America and worldwide. Although it is believed to have strong genetic background, autism can only be diagnosed after several months or even years of one’s life. The exact causes of the disease are unknown that is why it is hardly possible to predict, prevent or treat the illness.
It is almost impossible to imagine the hardship associated with raising children with autism. Life of the parents revolves around the disease and focuses mainly on taking care of their child. Thus, autism becomes detrimental not only for the social life of the autistic children, but also for that of their parents. Looking after an autistic child becomes a full-time position, which has neither weekends nor vacations. Most parents have to quit their jobs and to dedicate all of their time to the sick child. Moreover, their social life is further hampered by the inability of people around to comprehend the everyday life of the parents, who have autistic children. Constant judgement and the lack of understanding alienates these parents from their friends, family and even from each other. That is why most families with autistic children eventually fall apart, as parents are too overwhelmed by the childcare and have little time to dedicate to their own relationships.
The other challenge faced by the parents of children with autism is the problem to finance the lifestyle and the therapy of their child. The amount of money required to maintain autistic children is tremendous. The problem is further aggravated by the need of the parents to quit their jobs in order to provide round-the-clock care for their kid. The only possibility for many families is to fund the autism treatments with loans, thus running even further into debt. Therefore, it is crucial to emphasize the importance to assist families with autistic children both by the government and by other organizations and to help them with advice, money or moral support.
However, the worst part of autism, in my opinion, is the absence of hope for recovery. Only a few people with autism are able to live some kind of an independent life, to interact with others and to have meaningful relationships. It must be so painful for their parents to realize that all the efforts and therapy will hardly allow their child to live a full life. Moreover, the constant fear of parents to leave their child alone in case something happens to them was expressed by almost all the mothers, who participated in the movie. Autistic children often cannot take care of themselves that is why the loss of their parents could become detrimental for the child.
I believe the video “Autism speaks, it’s time to listen” does not target a specific audience, but addresses all people in general. For those, who face the challenge of raising children with autism, this video shows that they are not alone and many people share the same problem. For all the others, who are lucky enough not to have experienced the need to take care of people with autism, this short movie shows how hard such life could be. It creates awareness so that people can feel compassion for the parents, who dedicate their lives completely to their children and who renounce almost everything in order to see their kids making even smallest steps to recovery. These people truly deserve admiration and compassion, and I hope this video can make a small difference in their lives and will make our society a little more understanding to the problems and challenges of people, who have to live with autism every day.
