Lisa Belkin published two posts on autism: one from the perspective of the parent and one from an adult who has Aspergers' Syndrome. The mother describes the high level of stress that is involved with parenting a child with severe behaviorial and emotional needs. The other says it's not the fault of autistic kids and to stop wishing those kids away.

I don't think we should hush up these parents. We need greater awareness of the difficulties that special needs parents face. Check out this story about a little girl with schizophrenia and her parents. We need this awareness, so that extended families become more supportive, the state offers more respite care and other services, and that neighbors nudge their children to be kinder to those families.

I'm a big supporter of neurological diversity and all that, but in this case, let the mom vent.