The Shame of Being Married to Someone with Aspergers

Asperger Syndrome Parnters and Family of Adults with ASD Let me say this right up front…No, I don’t think it’s shameful to acknowledge that your spouse suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, a highly functioning form of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Nor is it shameful that your spouse has Asperger’s. But, the shame associated with living with Aspies can be extreme for some.

There’s such a stigma against being “labeled” Asperger or Autistic, that Aspies may fear losing their standing in the community or their business relationships, so they don’t want anyone to know of the diagnosis, if indeed they consent to being diagnosed at all. This puts pressure on the Neuro-typical family members to hide what their lives are really like. In fact, Neuro-typicals are terrified to come out of the closet and talk about their lives.

NT family members work so hard to please the person on the spectrum that they aren’t able to live their authentic selves. The Aspie thinks everything is fine and normal, but you can see your friends having loving relationships and you know that’s not what you have. Yet, you may start doubting yourself, thinking that maybe it is your fault, blaming yourself that you’re unlovable and unreasonable in your expectations. The pressure of keeping it secret and not having anyone who understands to talk to can make you question your own sanity.

This situation is so similar to the cycle of abuse. The victim is terrified to confront the abuser. They fear retaliation. But even worse, they fear that they are wrong about the abuse . . . and the abuser.

Sadly the nature of living in these relationships is that they cause confusion and defensiveness and shame. If we are to restore our lives to sanity, we need to be honest about our feelings and our situation. This doesn’t mean blame and it doesn’t mean shame. It means facing the problem squarely and developing a solution that works.

If you are a member of our Meetup group, Asperger Syndrome: Partners and Families of Adults with ASD, please join us for “The Skeleton in the Closet”. We’ll be discussing questions such as…why are we afraid to discuss our feelings or complain about our Aspie family members…and why are we afraid to admit we have failed in our relationships? Our Local Meetup will be on March 15th at 1:00pm PST.

The International Teleconference will be on March 28th at 2:30pm PST. Our first Teleconference was greeted with heartfelt thanks. One member wrote, “It is a small world when we all share the same difficulties, whether we’re in London or LA. I think the teleconference was fantastic and absolutely historic. Look forward to talking to you all again in March!”

To be a member of Asperger Syndrome: Partners and Families of Adults with ASD Meetup you must be a Neuro-typical family member who loves and cares for an adult with Asperger Syndrome because we meet to openly discuss issues and concerns without hindrance of saving someone’s feelings. After joining the group you will receive an email with all the details. Join me on Facebook and let me know your thoughts on this.

Robbie’s List of Back to School Resources

back to school resources for special needs kidsRecently I felt so honored that one of my young readers reached out to me because, after reading my article, Help Your Special Needs Child Prepare for the New School Year, he wanted to share additional helpful online resources that parents and teachers can use to benefit children with special needs. (His tutor, Kelly Campbell, from educatorlabs.org helped him.)

This young man clearly wants to make a difference in the world that he lives in. His name is Robbie. He chose to do research for a school project called “How to Prepare for the Start of School”. While doing his research, he compiled a list to share with me, so I could share it with you. I am very happy to do so today.

Robbie’s List of Back to School Resources for Children with Special Needs

Back to School Resources This is a list of links from usa.gov to learn about resources for health (checkups, immunizations, healthy eating, physical fitness) and school (school bus safety, financial aid, homework help, supplies).

20 Apps for Play-Based Learning This is a list of 20 (apps) games with a brief description for each, pricing, and which device they work on.

Homework Help This offers a comprehensive PDF that lists why homework is beneficial and how special needs children can get the most from it.

Kids.gov: School-Related Information on a Safe Site This is a list of links for information that teachers and parents can use when teaching children about Art, Exercise, Fitness and Nutrition, Government, Health and Safety, History, Jobs, Math, Money, Music, Online Safety, Reading and Writing, Science and Social Studies.

Parent’s Guide to Finding Safe Online Communities for Kids These are guidelines that alert parents to potential dangers online as well as tips for finding safe online sites that comply with Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

I’m sure you’ll agree that Robbie has compiled some very helpful information that parents and teachers can utilize when teaching children, especially those with special needs.

When a young person takes this kind of initiative I am very impressed. Clearly Robbie is one of those people who will make a difference in the world. It only takes one small kindness such as his to make a difference.

Please leave a comment below (simply click on the comments link below and submit your comment) or share your thoughts on my Facebook page so Robbie can see how all of you feel about his very much-appreciated contribution today.

Cost of Special Education for Children with Autism

special education for children with autism spectrum disorder While more states are passing laws that mandate treatment of autism to be covered by insurance, there are more than medical costs associated with autism. One area of growing concern is the amount our school systems are shouldering in order to teach children with autism.

CNN Medical Supervising Producer, Caleb Hellerman recently wrote about the Harvard School of Public Health report that estimates conservatively that the dollar cost of an autism diagnosis is more than $17,000 a year through age 17. $8,610 of that amount is what the educational system is picking up annually.

Children with autism (ASD) require different forms of Special Ed services. Some need one-on-one attention from a teacher, others can be placed in a small group setting, while others can be fully integrated into a classroom.

In the year 2000, there were federal grants for special Ed totaling $5 billion. In the year 2005 it went up to $12 billion. Since then the amount has been dropping, as can be seen from the fact that in 2013 the Special Education Personnel Preparation program only received $84 million in federal funding.

Michael Ganz, Assistant Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at Harvard School of Public Health, released the following information about the direct and indirect cost of Autism in 2006: “The Direct costs of Autism include direct medical costs, such as physician and outpatient services, prescription medication, and behavioral therapies (estimated to cost, on average, more than $29,000 per person per year) and direct non-medical costs, such as special education, camps, and child care (estimated to annually cost more than $38,000 for those with lower levels of disability and more than $43,000 for those with higher levels).

Indirect costs equal the value of lost productivity resulting from a person having autism, for example, the difference in potential income between someone with autism and someone without, and the value of lost productivity for an autistic person’s parents due to reduced work hours or not working altogether. The estimated annual indirect costs for autistic individuals and their parents range from more than $39,000 to nearly $130,000.”

The financial cost of autism is hard to pin down. Some say that autism costs a family $60,000 annually. Whatever the amount, it’s costing all of us not to do all we can to research, diagnose and treat this disorder. Early behavioral training can save society a great deal of money. And doesn’t every child deserve the best care we can give them? Many children who begin treatment before turning three improve to the point where they are able to thrive right alongside their fellow classmates.

Please join me on Twitter and share your thoughts as we continue the discussion on the cost of Autism to families, school districts, and taxpayers. Please use #autism and @KathyMarshack in your comments so I see them.

Do You Need Creativity to Survive

creativity means thinking outside the box Creativity has long been associated with the arts. The general population may feel that they aren’t creative. While some do have a greater aptitude for creativity than others, it is not a rare gift reserved for only a few. Creativity comes when you learn to look at the world in a different way. You see relationships between things that others can’t see.

Interestingly, a recent article in The New York Times by Laura Pappano reports that more institutes of higher learning are teaching creativity as a marketable skill for industries such as business, education, digital media, humanities, engineering, science, nursing, justice and safety.

She quotes Gerard J. Puccio, chairman of the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College, “The reality is that to survive in a fast-changing world you need to be creative.” He heads the nation’s oldest creative studies program that has been offered since 1967.

Dr. Puccio developed a four-step system that he and partners market as FourSight and sell to schools, businesses and individuals. His steps are clarifying (ask the right question), ideating (brainstorming without listening to the inner naysayer), developing (trying out your solution until you find one that works) and implementing (convincing others your idea has value).

She also talks about Dr. Burnett’s Introduction to Creative Studies survey course, where students can enhance their own creativity by rephrasing problems as questions, learning not to instinctively shoot down a new idea but look for three positives first, and categorizing whether a problem needs action, planning or invention.

No doubt you can see commonalities between these approaches. Creativity requires open, positively thinking outside the box. Being willing to accept change. Feeling safe and confident in the way you perceive yourself. Having a willingness to fail and try again. Sounds like a recipe for success if you’re in therapy!

In fact, I tell my clients – especially entrepreneurs – that if you have a good idea, sometimes you just need to run with it. It may or may not work, but allowing your creative juices to flow will only enhance your entrepreneurial abilities. With practice and time you can improve your creativity skills and, who knows, a failed creative thought or idea may not work for a particular situation at present, but it may for another one down the line.

What do you think? How important is creativity in your career? Join me on Facebook – I’d like to hear your thoughts on this and other subjects.

States Enact Autism Insurance Reform Laws

enacted autism insurance reform laws This month, Mississippi joins the line up of progressive states that are recognizing the need for enacting autism insurance reform laws as reported on by Emily LeCoz of the ClarionLedger. Their House of Representatives passed it 120-0. As a mental health care provider in Oregon and Washington it’s of interest that Oregon became the 34th state to enact insurance mandated laws. However, Washington at the time of this writing has not yet done so.

The cost of treatment for Autism is a huge financial burden for families. The Harvard School of Public Health estimates conservatively that the dollar cost of an autism diagnosis is more than $17,000 a year through age 17. Medical costs make up less than 20% of that amount.

Are the benefits of these laws being rolled over into the Obama Affordable Care Act?

The rules passed by individual states do not automatically extend to new health insurance Marketplaces. Each state must specifically require it. The Affordable Care Act says that all insurance plans within state Marketplaces must cover 10 essential benefits, including “behavioral health treatment” and “rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices.” However, the Department of Health and Human Services declined to specify treatment of autism as an essential health benefit and is leaving it up to each state to decide.

Many insurance companies in the past have refused to cover behavioral therapy because they consider it experimental or educational. This short-term thinking is failing to take into consideration the fact that early behavioral intervention is essential in a child’s life to make the greatest difference in the health and quality of life as an adult. Rather than treating symptoms, it teaches skills that help children with autism to cope and flourish.

According to a report by The PEW Charitable Trusts, “…Only 24 States and D.C. have applied the same requirements to policies that will be sold on their insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.”

To learn more about your state, check out Autism Speaks State Initiatives. They provide a clickable map plus a list of states so you can see where your state stands on this issue at present. They also list whom you can contact if you wish to show your support.

I’m passionate about providing education that will lead to the betterment of lives. Recently I’ve made myself available for providing Remote Education so many more people can be reached with this important information. Please, check out my Remote Education on Asperger Relationships to learn more about this service.

Are We Verging on a Drug Free Cure for Depression

the cure for insomnia and depression linked together Research is being done on the causal link between insomnia and depression. And the results are very promising. They are finding that treating insomnia will also alleviate the suffering of depression. That is good news!

I was happy to read The New York Times’ report about recent studies that are confirming this. A team at Ryerson University in Toronto found that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia resolved the insomnia for 87 percent of the patients within four treatment sessions.

The bonus to this treatment of insomnia is that these patients also had their depression symptoms disappear, almost twice the rate of those whose insomnia was not cured.

Another study from Stanford University gives us similar hope. The patients all suffered from insomnia plus depression, and they were all taking an antidepressant pill. Sixty percent of those given seven sessions of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia in addition to the pill recovered fully from their depression, compared with only 33 percent in a control group that got the standard advice for treating sleeplessness.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy grew out of a need for solving problems that more traditional therapies couldn’t. Depression, for example, can take months of therapy, so many people resort to anti-depressant medication for more immediate relief. Now that we see the link between insomnia and depression we can use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to teach people to establish and stick to a regular wake-up time, avoid daytime napping, spend less time in bed, and reserve bed only for sleeping – not watching TV, snacking or reading.

As the studies above reveal, this treatment may not take very many sessions, but the results are spectacular. NET practitioners like myself have known for some time that the mind/body must be treated in a holistic mannerIf you think insomnia is playing a role in your depression and you want to get to the root of your health problems, perhaps it’s time to look into Cognitive Behavior Therapy. If you are looking for a holistic approach to your mental health issues, contact my office in Portland, Oregon or Vancouver, Washington, and set up an appointment.

Do you have questions about how therapy works? See my FAQ page for the answers.

If you have a loved one on the Spectrum, please check our private MeetUp group. We have members from around the world meeting online in intimate video conferences guided by Dr. Kathy Marshack.
Learn More >
close-link
Join my Meetup Group