My brother is autistic.
He's 59.
There are levels of autism, of course.
When we were little, he was in a state institution in Georgia for a while, and lived at home for a while, was in a private institution in the Georgia mountains for a while, and always wanted to have his own apartment and live independently.
He eventually got his GED.
Eventually, my dad gave in and accepted that he was miserable and found a way to get him set up with his own apartment. He has a part-time job (washing dishes). It's worked out very, very well. He's been working and in the same apartment for over nearly two decades.
All of his successes would have been unimaginable in the '60s.
I understand that my brother is in much better shape than your artist example. The point is, even in the 1960s there were state programs to help the mentally disabled. Just about every state has something similar, and much better, now, typically paid through Medicare and Medicaid. Employment opportunities are available for many.
Yeah, it's a huge, never-ending burden for parents with such children. But there is some help available (even though it's too often inadequate).
There recently was a good twitter thread too. We're slowly getting better about figuring out how to cope with and help autistic kids.
HTH a little.
Cheers,
Scott.
There are levels of autism, of course.
When we were little, he was in a state institution in Georgia for a while, and lived at home for a while, was in a private institution in the Georgia mountains for a while, and always wanted to have his own apartment and live independently.
He eventually got his GED.
Eventually, my dad gave in and accepted that he was miserable and found a way to get him set up with his own apartment. He has a part-time job (washing dishes). It's worked out very, very well. He's been working and in the same apartment for over nearly two decades.
All of his successes would have been unimaginable in the '60s.
I understand that my brother is in much better shape than your artist example. The point is, even in the 1960s there were state programs to help the mentally disabled. Just about every state has something similar, and much better, now, typically paid through Medicare and Medicaid. Employment opportunities are available for many.
Yeah, it's a huge, never-ending burden for parents with such children. But there is some help available (even though it's too often inadequate).
There recently was a good twitter thread too. We're slowly getting better about figuring out how to cope with and help autistic kids.
HTH a little.
Cheers,
Scott.
