AUTISM and JW children

by apostatekate 34 Replies latest social family

  • Awake at last
    Awake at last

    My daughter and I have both been diagnosed with Aspergers. My daughter has sensory problems, one of them being the feel of clothing. Getting her dressed for a meeting is impossible especially if she has to wear appropriate meeting clothes. She was bullied at school by an elders child as well as other kids. We took her out of the school and put her into another school where she is not doing great, but is doing much better. We did not report the bullying to the elder regarding his child as they would say there were not two witnesses, which is true and they would say that their child is on the ministry school, answers in meetings, goes in field circus, etc., etc., etc. What is our child doing? Other kids in the cong shun her because she is a bit unusual and they are working toward baptism, so they are better than her.

    The elders came about two years ago and once they knew what our problems were, they lost interest in us. A sister came to our house during door to door work recently and I was friendly to her. She brought me back one of the new bibles and I have not seen her since. My guess is that she told the brothers who she met and they have told her not to bother with us, we are in the "too hard basket".

    My daughter and I are managing OK with help from mental health services. If my experience has taught me anything, it is that there is more to mental health issues than meets the eye. Depression, autism, bipolar, multiple personality disorder and other problems are a real challenge for the sufferer and their families on a daily basis. My husband's sister has multiple personality disorder and is disfellowshipped. She told the elders that she cannot study etc. to come back. We told an elder that and his response was that she could if she wanted to. I agreed at the time, this was about eight years ago. I cannot disagree more with him now. I have learned so much in the past two years about myself as well as my daughter.

    Not attending meetings means one less stress in my life which is good. I was also on the edge socially in the cong as a child. I have never been great socially, but have found over the years that so called worldly people, generally are a bit more tolerant to imperfection than witnesses. That is my experience anyway.

  • KateWild
    KateWild

    but have found over the years that so called worldly people, generally are a bit more tolerant to imperfection than witnesses. That is my experience anyway.- Awake at last

    I am glad you have found professionals and other members of the public that support you. Here in the UK I have not found this, my experience is that the public and professionals are intolerent of ASD. Perhaps mine is worse than yours.

    Sadly I have to deal with discrimination on a regular basis. I think there needs to be more awareness about Autism in the UK.

    Kate xx

  • SonoftheTrinity
    SonoftheTrinity

    I have Aspergers and I am married to a JW woman. Thank God I was born with Aspergers and I found Rastafari before i met my wife. Otherwise I might actually fit into their spiritual straight-jacket.

  • Awake at last
    Awake at last

    Hi Kate

    I felt really bad when I read your comment about professionals being intollerant towards your problems. We get many medical shows on Australian TV from the UK and the impression we get is that they have a fantastic medical system over there. But then, shows on TV are probably not always accurate.

    You may send me a personal message if you wish to. I have been well supported in adjusting to my diagnosis of Aspergers. I was 50 when I was diagnosed, due to my daughters problems. I am learning to cope better now. if there is anything I can do to assist you, please contact me.

    Awake at last

    NSW Australia

  • NeverKnew
    NeverKnew

    This was one of the things that struck me when I sat through a few meetings at the Kingdom Hall. I see children, but none speak. They don't even smile. The children look so... I think the word might be ...somber. It seems like women and children do not move except to walk to the bathroom and return.

    To be honest, seeing a child shift in his/her seat would make me see them as "normal." Making an autistic child sit through those meetings is unimaginable.

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