Autistic, 15 and… One of the World’s Most Promising Physicists – It Can Happen

It’s somewhat startling to take a step back and realize that one or two generations ago, very little was known about autism or how to best treat children who were diagnosed with this difficult condition.  However, in recent years we have come a very long way in terms of understanding the nature of autism and how we can best put those who deal with it every day in positions to succeed.  There have been different theories that have come about and different plans that have both worked and not worked, but slowly a loose consensus has developed regarding the work that needs to be done with autistic children.

This loose consensus does not mean that every autistic child goes through the same type of rehabilitation and assisted care, but rather each child who receives treatment is given a lot of care and is slowly moved along to the point where he or she is able to function as well as possible in the presence of other people.  Autistic children do not necessarily lack intelligence, but rather they struggle with social environments and emotional understanding.

However, the emergence of a loose consensus has not eliminated some parents from following their instincts and doing what they felt they must in order to provide happiness for their autistic children.  In fact, one mother in Indiana bucked the trends that existed with regards to autistic children and pulled her son out of special education.  She did not listen to the therapists who were working with him and she allowed him to experience the world on his own.

The result at this point is that her son, 15-year-old Jacob Barnett, is becoming known around the planet as one of the world’s most promising physicists.  A link to a very thorough story regarding his development can be found here, but the story should alert parents of autistic children that even though we have learned a lot about autism in recent years, there is still much that we do not know and there is still a lot that can be accomplished by people who endure this condition every day.

Perhaps the most startling aspect of this story is that for a time, medical experts thought that the boy was severely autistic and would therefore face extreme limits in terms of his ability to function.  However, Jacob’s mother pressed on and now her son is garnering attention in a place that is home to some of the brightest minds in the world.

When parents discover that their child has been diagnosed with autism, many are understandably devastated.  Autism is a difficult condition to manage for parents and it involves struggles for those who have it.  However, it does not need to be a sentence of confinement and of limited achievement.  Parents whose children are autistic need to fight for them, and that includes parents whose children are diagnosed with autism because of mistakes made by medical professionals while they were being born.  If this has happened to your child, contact the New York medical malpractice lawyers at The Fitzgerald Law Firm today to schedule a free initial consultation.

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