My autistic son David, now 22, has finally mastered the Metro transit system here in the nation’s capital. He is also a runner who jogs alone on the Potomac River’s neat footpaths, cutting like a ribbon through tourists flocking to the Mall for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Recently, David got his driver’s license, but to ensure that he never takes more than one person for a ride, we pulled out the back seat of his little Jeep Wrangler and so far, I have been his only passenger. And there’s the rub: mastering the skills for doing things by himself has catapulted him into an ever-deepening world of aloneness. Now, everywhere he goes, roaming farther and farther into the world, he goes solo. Hardwired to protect him, this is proving more difficult for me than for him.
For years we fought side by side, battling for the right school, therapy, job coach, and lately, housing. Now, as he moves toward greater independence as an adult, the number one concern my husband and I have for our son is his growing isolation.
The supreme dread for us, and for every middle-aged parent of a special needs adult, the singular ache that dries the mouth and races the heart at 3 a.m., is loneliness: Who will offer my child a healthy, loving touch when I am no longer there? Who will care if he has not made it home by the end of the day? And if there is no one, will there be a safe shelter for him somewhere?
The fact is, middle age is scary. Bruce and I are thirty-five years older than our son, and we have no way of knowing how things will play out for him long after our bones have dried. Nonetheless, it is time to delve into the basic civil and legal rights of and for our special needs adult son. And knowing what we know, we have made some plans.
I anguish still over our decision to assume the limited legal guardianship of David’s life. This controls four basic constitutional rights: his right to vote, to marry, to choose his religion, and, God help us, his right to own a gun. For each of these civil liberties he must have our written consent. On the one hand, it pains me to think our guardianship could further stigmatize him. On the other hand, guardianship is an important instrument that will help protect him from a predator’s grasp. The question of whom to appoint as his financial trustees in the event of our mutual deaths is even more worrisome. The stakes are high here and the people we are asking to step in for us must be reliable, empathetic, and, to my mind, heroic.
No one looks forward to time spent thinking about his or her own death. But as overwhelming as the process is, in the final analysis, there is relief, not dread, in wising up and finding new ways to think about securing David’s future. Bruce and I have visited the good attorney’s office on three separate occasions now, sifting through the process’s tedious language, having heart-to-hearts with friends or family members who might be willing to assume a part of this enormous burden in our stead. Three or four times we have set a date to meet each other at our kitchen table to wade into the binder protecting David’s future. Three or four times we’ve let something get in the way before we can finish the task. But slowly, we’re getting there.
And yet, we’ve come to believe the flip side of David’s autism is its saving grace. Perhaps the disquieting things that keep us up nights do not register in David’s mind. The worry-free bubble in which he lives is almost enviable, a protective shield from anxiety. We know our son doesn’t lose sleep over what would happen if his SSI payments were slashed, if his Medicaid benefits dried up, or even how he’d get home if he lost his Metro card again. For us these are very real qualms, yet somehow manageable because they do not begin to approach the darkest monster coiled under the bed: who will love him when we are gone?
On the other hand, we know the immense pleasure of what David does have – those strong runner’s legs of his and a good support system in his two older brothers – and we recognize how much harder so many other special needs children have it. When David comes in from a night run and wolfs down a box of cereal before heading off alone to his room, I feel wonder and awe for what he can do.
But like our cat, he allows me into his presence only on his terms. Neither selfish nor mean, he’s simply not needy. For example, he’s never said that he loves me, but the gift of his love is not mandatory for our allegiance because I yield to a certain unknowability in this young man. I accept that his emotional life will continue to be a mystery because he will always live on this one-way street.
And yet, deep in my heart, there is still an ache for what could have been for him and will never be.
This “In Their Own Words” essay is written by Glen Finland. Glen is the author of Next Stop, a memoir about raising her son, who has autism, to adulthood and learning to let go, forthcoming from Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam in early 2011.
If you have a story you wish to share about your personal experience with autism, please send it to editors@autismspeaks.org. Autism Speaks reserves the right to edit contributions for space, style and content. Because of the volume of submissions, not all can be published on the site.
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