When Caregivers Need Healing

“This has happened before,” she tells herself. “It’s nowhere near as bad as before, and it will pass.”Robbie Pinter’s 21-year-old son, Nicholas, is upset again. He yells. He obsesses about something that can’t be changed. Even good news may throw him off.

Dr. Robbie Pinter and her
son, Nicholas.

So Dr. Pinter breathes deeply, as she was taught, focusing on each intake and release. She talks herself through the crisis, reminding herself that this is how Nicholas copes with his autism and bipolar disorder.

5 Facts Autism Families Want Obama to Know

President Obama,
Congratulations on your reelection! I was one of the millions who voted for you, and as the mother of a teenage boy with autism, I am grateful that you did so much in your first term to help families coping with autism. When you signed the Combating Autism Act legislation on September 30, 2011, which assured continued federal support for autism research, services and treatment for another three years, many parents of children with autism cheered. Declaring World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 was another important step.
People with autism and their families look forward to the hope and change that you spoke of in your acceptance speech today. Here are a few facts about us that I hope you will keep in mind during the next four years.