My Opinion

I have not watched the show Parenthood at all so I do not know the backstory regarding the family with the son named Max that has Aspergers Syndrome. But I had heard that Tuesday nights episode was going to be about the parents explaining to Max about his autism so I decided to watch it since we just recently explained to Kassidy that she has autism as I was interested in seeing how they would handle it. I did not like the way the show made the parents look almost like idiots when they first were talking to Max about it. It made me feel like the parents were just finding out too and they came across as morons. I did like the way that they showed Max's reaction to the rollercoaster breaking down just as he got on. I probably wont watch this show again because too me it seems that they want to make Max's parents look stupid and I know that most parents of autistic children are far from stupid because once your receive the diagnosis, you read and research everything you can about it so that you know what you are facing in your future with your child.

But then this morning we were watching PBS kids and the show Arthur came on and the first episode was about one of the characters name George becoming friends with a boy who had Aspergers Syndrome. They explained what it was beautifully and in a way that any age could understand. I wish I had recorded it. So when the show was over I didn't say one word because I wanted to see if Kassidy would react to it. After a few minutes she said, "I thought I was normal until I found out I have autism."  UUGHH! So I replied that she is normal, that normal kids can have issues like some are allergic to nuts and some may have diabetes and some may walk funny or like me, I am normal (?) but I have a muscle condition. Her reaction was "oh yeah, huh." Shanes reaction was "Do I have autism too?" I told him no and he asked me if Kassidy was born with autism and I said yes. Then he asked me if he had anything different about him and I told him that he kinda did, that he was a perfectionist and if something was not perfect, he always gets upset to which he replied that I was wrong, he did not have to have everything perfect because there was nothing wrong with him (as in he is perfect) - point made.