A Currant Affair on Mon Night

[michelle21]

Has anyone seen the shorts for A Currant Affair that will air on Monday night (the 18/9) about the little autistic girl who's parents are giving her up??
Its so sad.
I used to be her preschool teacher!!
I feel so sorry for her because she was quite a handful and could get violent and rough with me/other children but she didnt do it on purpose and most of the times it was out of frustration as she couldnt explain what she wanted.
Underneath that was such a sweet little girl who would randomly come up and hug me through out the day or stroke my arm or face, she was just a normal little girl inside who loved dressing up and getting into the sandpit, a really good painter too, she loved it!
I dont evn know if I will be able to watch the story on TV, seeing the shorts for it made me all teary today

[cobysmummy]

i did see the ads... so sad.. she is their child after all... :o

[Mum&bubs]

I havent seen the ads about it or heard anything about it besides this but it sounds very sad. I wouldnt be able to give my DD up no matter what espeically after all those years. I know it must be hard for the parents though and i dont know what they must go through with her but still she is their child.

[Rell]

The story looks to be very sad for everyone involved.:crying:

Please lets not judge these parents, we are not in their situation so we have no idea what we would or would not do

[heymamma]

Awwww so sad :(

[V8]

Thats so sad, how come they are giving her up?? I don't understand how you could give up your child, no matter what is different about them...

[sam's mum]

I have to say that I can empathise with them. There are times when I wonder what it would be like to be able to do things without having to worry that my child is going to have a major violent fit. This can be sparked by something as simple as someone looking at her. She may believe that the person is looking at her, judging, laughing and so on, rather than randomly looking at people in a crowd. There is no calming her down. You have to just get her out with as little damage as possible to others. It has been 18 months now since she got out of control violent, but every time we leave the house, I still watch and wait for it. The smaller things that are like chinese water torture wear you down just as much. Making sure that she has everything explained to her in the smallest detail, watching for every loophole, every word/phrase that may be misunderstood.

It is only a year or two that a woman was so overwhelmed by her autistic son that she killed him and then tried to kill herself.

The upside is that sometimes, out of the blue, they can be so sweet, so perfect, that you have to hold that memory to carry you through the next time.

I think that these people just don't have enough respite and support and they are crying out for help.

[michelle21]

yeh I dont have any opinion as to weather her parents are doing the right or wrong thing, thats not for me to say. I just feel so sorry for her and it makes it so much worse knowing her and how hard she would try.
I had never really interacted with an autistic child before her and she totally changed my way of thinking and taught me alot.
Having said this it could get so hard sometimes and I only had her for a few hours, it would leave me totally exhausted. I cant say what I would do in that situation but I believe parents need more help.
I am only full of praise for the wonderfull people out there that choose to adopt or take in children with disabilities etc, they are much stronger than I am, I just dont think I could do it... but then that might be totally different if it was my own child..... I guess you can only think what you might do and dont really know untill your faced with that decision.
I just hope where ever she is now, weather it be at home or with someone else that she is ok and she is happy. Its just so sad.

[FourAngelKisses]

Thats so sad, how come they are giving her up?? I don't understand how you could give up your child, no matter what is different about them...

I can understand. My 25yr old SIL is autistic and also has Down Syndrome. My inlaws are almost 60 and have NO help aside from us. The government wont help, doctors wont help, there are no care homes around who can take her.
Having seen my inlaws get scratched, bitten, have things thrown at me, seen my children be attacked.....you can understand why people give up their autistic kids. My inlaws have to spoon feed her, shower her, drag her to the toilet (no easy task as she is 90kg), she wont walk anywhere, she has to be dragged down the street kicking, screaming and swearing. She will sit herself on the ground out in public and scream as if she is being murdered. She will pee/soil her pants if she can't get her own way.

Even though she is their child, my inlaws can't keep doing this forever, but there is no place that will take her as she is too violent and not at all independant. The only place for her is the mental institution in the next town, but they will have to heavily sedate her all the time as she is a danger to herself and to others.

So yes, I can see why parents give up their autistic kids, there is only so much aggression you can take.

[crazymammax4]

Its so sad but I hope stories like these will push our slack government into providing more funding for respite care and community programs. Services that provide children and young adults with disabilities something productive to do so they can feel like valued members of our society and not a burden. :fingerscrossed: