AUTISM: The Psychologist said to my 15 yo son, “You’ll never have a j-o-b and you’ll always be s-i-n-g-le.” So here’s what we did.

Actually, it was worse… What the psychologist actually said was,

“You’ll never have a job and you’ll never have a girl -friend.” 

He is 15. 

He is partway through the course we run the teenagers that equips them with social skills (called “PEERS for Teens”). 

So he is literally half-way through the course that has equipped so many of our students with skills further how to make conversation, how to view others as safe and fun, how to express opinions, which sort of social groups are the most likely to be good for finding friends.

Who the heck is this psychologist to make such a stupid and unfounded declaration like that? 

PAUSE - First thing is this email is not here to cause you to feel anger. 

So, if you’re feeling as cranky as I felt when I first heard about this, please pause and stop and accept that this lady is still a human being and she is flawed like the rest of us. 

Clearly she made a mistake. She doesn’t even realize her mistake, or the level of destructive that the statement could have been for this boy.

I wish this story was made up, but it’s true and this boy’s mum told me about it recently.

So here’s what we did…

I have a great friend (James) who has Autism and he works for the government he and earns probably twice as much as the psychologist does at his JOB. He and I made a 10 minute video where I asked him lots of questions about what is life looks like (he is now 32). In it, we make super clear that he has a great job and he loves his job. I gave him a huge opportunity to tell us about how his job contributes to others. Life’s not perfect, but he is a very happy guy.

Then, we showed all our teenagers and young adults this video so that they could get a bit inspired and know that they, too, can have a bright future and that when people declare that they don’t have what it takes to succeed, they will know that that is not the truth.

Next, we made sure that in our ‘PEERS Teens/Young Adults’ social skills program, this video will be shown on the last day of each child’s course - every time we run that course - for ever. If you're interested our social skills courses - for kids of different ages, go here: https://www.amazingskills.com.au/

Is that a happy ending? 

Has more good than harm come out of this story? 

I’d love to know what you think – feel free to tell me.

Michael Clark (Course leader for children & teens with Autism)

0481614517

www.amazingskills.com.au