Susan is a writer and mother to three boys, including Nat, 19, who has autism. She uses her writing talents “to make sense of autism and find a way to my oldest son, and help others with this challenge of autism at the same time.” Besides her blog, she has written numerous articles and two books: “Making Peace with Autism” and “The Autism Mom’s Survival Guide”, to be published in the spring of 2010.

In “My FaNATasy” Susan points out that her fantasies and dreams for Nat have just been modified…”dreams shaped by what Nat is like.”

She writes, “My fanatasy is that Nat would be able to get a job similar to one of the 5 (five!) jobs he now has. So far he has learned to do cafeteria-serving; janitorial stuff; making boxes; delivering messages; and filling orders for classrooms, as well as his volunteer work with Meals on Wheels. My Natty is a Nat-of-all-trades, at least of trades that many 19-year-olds find for themselves, disabled or non.

The best part is, Nat loves to work. Nat does not even know that his work is “beneath” him. Therefore, it is not.”

To read the complete blog post, click here. To view Susan’s website and read more, click here.

“Your work has helped to save a family. Jerry’s (not his real name) mother sat in my office this fall crying. Jerry had given her difficulty for a few years but had recently become physically violent with her. We had started to see the same thing at school. On the day that Jerry ended up in a physical restraint here, his mother came in and confessed that she hated her own son, then began to sob. She told me that she was thinking about seeing if he could live in a group home because she couldn’t take it anymore.

“I talked with Jerry and told him that I had a problem and thought he might be able to help me. We simply did not have enough custodial help during lunch time. He agreed to help me by wiping down tables and sweeping the floor for a half hour at the end of each lunch day. Our custodians (who are awesome and child-centered) thanked him profusely and gave him authentic compliments about the work he had done. Jerry has not been in trouble since he started his new job three months ago. He is no longer physically violent or disruptive during class.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Brooks about the benefits of involving children in contributory activities. While he doesn’t state that this particular child was on the autism spectrum, I think it’s obvious that “seeking ways to help them to feel more dignified” is beneficial to all children. Read the complete original article and more about Dr. Robert Brooks here.