As a mother of a Kanner Syndrome individual, I staggered along as I accompanied my child. Looking back, I have experienced many unforgettable moments. As my child grew up, I realized that I still have a lot to do since the society is not aware and acceptive of those individuals with special needs. Yet, my biggest fear is whether those exceptional children can be treated with dignity and respect as the parents gradually age.
Since several mothers conceived that Kanner Syndrome adults hold the right to live with dignity, we collaborated to garner support from other parents and those who care about Kanner Syndrome individuals. We stepped out the hardest part and established Kanner Syndrome Support Group. Each one of us shared the same vision and goal and hoped that we could accumulate more participation, concern, and resources from our government and society. Thus, we could bring in powerful forces in helping those innocent Kanner Syndrome individuals to live with dignity eternally.
People used to refer to Kanner Syndrome individuals as“children with autism”since we assumed that they are self-enclosed and uncomfortable in communicating with others; but this is not the case. We can see the eagerness in the eyes of the so-called autistic kids when they want to participate in a group. When those kids grow up, the more we can perceive that they are longing to engage in a peer relationship and they like the common qualities as getting along with people.
However, our kids are not accepted because they lack the skills of socializing due to physiological lesions in their brains. In order to avoid misunderstanding in our country, we rectify “autism” as “Kanner Syndromes”as how other foreign countries do. To commemorate Dr. Leo Kanner (1943), who published the first medical report on Kanner Syndrome, we named our support group after him and we hope that the society can have a better understanding of Kanner Syndrome individuals.
After the establishment of the support group, we will focus on the enhancement of Kanner Syndrome individuals, the integration of parents’ resources, and the advocacy of society. Concerning on Kanner Syndrome individuals, we not only will conduct a series of seminars to raise awareness for Kanner Syndrome, but we also will hold regular life skill training programs to assist those kids in each of their critical growing period. At the same time, youth fellowships will be held to aid Kanner Syndrome individuals with job employment and adaptation of community life.
In regards to parents’ resources, other than holding parents’ mutual help groups and self-help groups, providing teaching-related counsel services, and conducting parent seminars, we will also supply professional information via our bi-monthly publications. Furthermore, the support group will combine professions of medical care, rehabilitation, special education, and psychological and social welfare to set up an unprecedented Kanner Syndrome sheltered employment site. We will also advocate basic privileges for Kanner Synd rome individuals and summon up the government to implement educational, medical, and residential policies.
The purposes of the establishment of the Kanner Syndrome Support Group are to restore the dignity and opportunities for Kanner Syndrome individuals and to give them the chances to seek out their dream land in this environment.
We have seen too many negative examples of exceptional adults who are not being taken care of properly. If those unfortunate fates repeatedly occur, our society will be a failure and the existence of those children renders insignificant. As the number of kanner syndrome individuals increases, the issue becomes an inevitable long-term problem and it cannot be ignored. We have to put efforts in it because this is of our concern. Way to go and carry on!
