To,
@WoahThatsCrazy,
Well absoutlely not, I don't want to cause division or anything, etc x And your last sentence, yes, that's correct, but sadly, there are many ablest people out there in the word who love to make fun of disabled people and discriminate and not give out resources x
I agree that there are many people who do those things, but it seemed like you were directing this at the ppl who comment on here as if most of us are guilty of doing this. If you meant it in more of a broad or general sense, then I can understand that more.
I'd have to refresh my memory, but I believe you said that people told Abbie 'hands waiting' while doing tasks so that she'd concentrate better? Please feel free to remind me, I don't want to be mistaken
Yes, I mentioned the "hands-waiting" gesture. But I meant it as a way of getting her attention and letting her know that they'd like her to do something. I know that it can be used in the wrong way and in a more restrictive/controlling way and that it has the potential to be used abusively. My point was just that I don't think 'hands waiting' is a bad thing all together. If she's getting really worked up about something and it's escalating, hands waiting can be used to try to intervene. If an NT kid was having a really hard time with something, of course you want to find out why and to do what you can to help, but when the energy is building and building you might try something to stop it from becoming frantic and out of control. I don't mean this as a way to make things more convenient for the parent, but more so to help the person who is becoming overwhelmed.
These are just my thoughts on it. I don't claim to be an expert.
I agree that there are still many misconceptions and misunderstandings that NT people have when it comes to autism and other conditions and I agree that people should be called out on it if it necessary. My point is that there are some of us NT people who are genuinely trying to understand and who are open to being educated and it's a bit confusing and frustrating to just be lumped in with the neurotypical bias/ablest people.
Some ppl feel that Abbie is as far as she's going to get and that there's nothing going on upstairs. While I don't think Abbie is greatly more intelligent, aware etc than what we see, I do think she is still capable of more. That she isn't a total lost cause that shouldn't even be bothered with. I think there's a lot more she can do - but it would require her parents to put in a lot more time, effort, and consistency for her to make that progress.