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Would you use a 24/7 anonymous autistic child parent help line in Alabama?

  • yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • no

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • yes and would like to help

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

kacey

New Member
I am a social worker and a mom of a beautiful autistic 9yr old son. He is happy most of the time but he still can have really bad days. I am talking about the kind of days that only other parents of autistic parents can understand. The meltdowns, the not eating, the struggle of not brushing their teeth are just a few things that can leave our children over simulated, emotional, explosive or many other autistic irritations. As a parent we need a time out in very intense autistic breakdown moment sometimes and that's OK. Wouldn't you like to have help or just a caring person to talk to that truly understands autism while you are taking care of your child's sensitive needs. I want to start that phone call. I want to start a 24/7 anonymous parent help line answered by other parents that have their on child with autism. If its not another parent it will be a professional that works with autism ready to give you hope, a listening ear and researched based resources. You don't have to go through this journey alone someone will always be there on the other end of the phone. If you are in the state of Alabama and would use this type of parent network helpline let me know. If you are in the state of Alabama and would like to help with this project please let me know.
 
Hi @kacey and welcome.

I am not a parent and I do not live in Alabama, nevertheless, I have a few questions...

Would it be free for the callers? Assuming it is, would you be getting parents and professionals who are volunteering their time?

I think 24/7 is a difficult things to staff and maintain over a long period of time, and you wouldn't want parents to rely on the help being there and then be unable to reach a qualified person.

Are you sure that you would be legally protected in this endeavor?

Also, this is separate from your idea, but it might be good to direct other parents here. There is a wealth of support and information available 24/7 and there is oversight from a great group of Administrators.

As a parent we need a time out in very intense autistic breakdown moment sometimes and that's OK.
Again, I am not a parent, but this makes perfect sense and you are absolutely right. Just like we autistics sometimes need a time out for ourselves, it seems equally important that a caregiver of a child with autism also gets this so that they can be the best support possible for their kids.

Good luck with everything.
 
Thank you for your questions. This help line is just at it's idea stage. I am a social worker that has been out of the field since 2015. I had to stop working to take care of my autistic son. He was having a lot of trouble at school and kept having meltdowns at home. I personally felt defected as a mom. Why was my son so angry and aggressive? I felt alone trying to take him to doctor's. Having to pick him up from school because he keeps being aggressive to himself and others. Trying to manage a routine that would ease over stimulation hopefully my husband was working all the time. I needed help right then. I looked for resources that I could use and apply at home. I went to every school meeting they had when they thought they had a new strategy that would work in the classroom. I'm still finding and learning about resources I worked really hard to research and work for my son. I know I'm not the only parent out there that needed help. I'm a social worker and it wasn't easy to find answers. So I can only imagine other exhausted overwhelmed parents struggling alone with their child. Having a help line for parents gives them some power back and once they have came out of their difficult time with there child they can volunteer the helpline and help the next parent if they choose to join the parent network that the help line will create. I'm also a grant writer. I am hoping to get funding for the over head funding for the professional staff research and resource development. I am not 100 percent sure on the legal matters but before the helpline is up and running all legal and ethical matters will be taken care of. The helpline will be free to all callers. Again this is just an idea at this point wanting to see if the population and need is there if it existed
 
I personally felt defected as a mom.
This must be so hard. Even though I am not a mother, I have worked with many mothers of children with different disabilities and also autism. It is so hard to be doing everything you can and trying so hard and still meeting huge challenges. There is so much pressure on mothers to hold it all together and constantly be supporting the children.
Trying to manage a routine that would ease over stimulation hopefully my husband was working all the time.
So difficult! And even if your husband was supporting in his own way, it sounds like it was all on your shoulders most of the time.
I'm still finding and learning about resources I worked really hard to research and work for my son.
You can hang out here with us if you want. There are many parents here, some who are autistic themselves raising an autistic child. Others come here to ask questions and get an autistic perspective on things. You’re welcome to hang out and read as much as you want and post questions you have.
Having a help line for parents gives them some power back and once they have came out of their difficult time with there child they can volunteer the helpline and help the next parent if they choose to join the parent network that the help line will create
This is awesome. I really like how you said that parents can give back and offer their experience “once they have come out of their difficult time with their child.” Some parents in your situation are trying so hard that I can see that offering help could feel like one additional thing that must be done. But it’s so interesting how helping others even when you are struggling yourself can be really valuable for everyone. I think we do that a lot here, too. Even though some of us are struggling in our own ways, we can still offer help to others and the benefit goes both ways. It’s a similar theory that guides alcoholics anonymous… Once one finds sobriety, one way to keep it is to offer helps to others. It’s a very powerful thing to offer the things you have learned and been through to others who are struggling .
I'm also a grant writer.
This is a great and useful skill. Finding funding is invaluable to goodhearted work.
 
Thank you for your response. I'm glad to see my helpline idea is bringing so much thought and conversation. My husband was very supportive but one of us had to work and we choose his career at that time. Women are more likely to take the caregiver role in the family and that is a very big job. Father's need support too that's why I would campaign for dads to volunteer. Encourage dad's to call. Search for male advocates
 
Would you use a 24/7 anonymous autistic child parent help line...?
It would depend on who is behind it.
Raising an ASD1 child is just like raising a gifted child. (I am both.)
We had to wing it for our ASD2 & 3 children. When my daughter had the bite-strength of a 12yo and the mental age of 18mos., we had to be creative in the moment to get her to release us. She is/was non-verbal, so we could not just reason with her on what she might be feeling to have her make that particular life choice...*
A phone counselor would have been too little, too late.
full


Such a service might be useful for less urgent issues, but I find dialogue in autism forums --if they are balanced-- to be much more useful. And quite frankly, I have not found autism to be all that hard to navigate; only the severe co-morbid conditions that accompany ASD2 & 3.
*I was able to condition her to stop biting me, but she did not generalize that conditioning and still bit her special ed. teachers. Her school bus driver figured it out, though. Our daughter is usually pretty easy-going the rest of the time.
 
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Thank you for your response. Every child and every family is different. Some families will need more resources then others. And autism isn't the problem. Sometimes it's the world that becomes to much for our little ones to handle. Sometimes it's a Co- occurring issue or just a bad day. It could be any type of external factor that effects our child. What ever the issue the helpline would be there for the families that needed them
 

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