[Specialneeds] Fwd: FYI

[Joy Belew]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Karbbev at aol.com
> Date: July 22, 2004 7:33:24 AM EDT
> To: jbelew at belewlaw.com
> Subject: FYI
>
> Joy - FYI.
>  Karen
>
>  Parents of Autistic Children Use Faith to Help Others Facing Condition
>
>  http://www.charismanews.com/a.php?ArticleID=9458
>
>        Autism can destroy families, but some Christian parents of 
> autistic
>  children are using their faith to help others face the misunderstood
>  condition.
>        Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability 
> that was
>  almost unheard of only one generation ago but today affects more than 
> 1
>  million people in the United States, according to the Autism 
> Coalition.
>        Despite advances in awareness, diagnosis and treatment, ASD 
> remains a
>  lifelong condition -- and the autistic person is not the only one 
> affected.
>  For parents and families, an autism diagnosis is devastating.
>        Joni Parsley, wife of pastor Rod Parsley of World Harvest 
> Church in
>  Columbus, Ohio, said she hit rock bottom when their son, Austin, was
>  diagnosed at age 3 with Asperger's syndrome, a high-functioning form 
> of
>  autism.
>        “The first thing they tell you is that there's no hope, no 
> cure, no
>  treatment,” she told “Charisma” magazine in the July issue, out now. 
> The
>  full report on autism can be found in the magazine. “And it was very
>  difficult to hear that and process it and get your fight back.”
>        Getting your fight back is a task most Christian parents of ASD
>  children credit to their faith in God.
>        “Reading the statistics can really drain your faith,” said Jack
>  Sytsema, whose first son, Nicholas, has autism. Jack is married to 
> Rebecca
>  Wagner Sytsema, daughter of Global Harvest Ministries President C. 
> Peter
>  Wagner and executive director of Florida-based Children of Destiny 
> ministry.
>        “But then you've got to make sense of your faith and say: OK, 
> that
>  might be reality, but what God says always triumphs over statistics,” 
> Jack
>  added.
>        Even with God's help, the day-to-day grind is unbearable for 
> some. “We
>  sometimes felt it was way too much for us,” said Sheryl York, who has 
> two
>  autistic daughters, Erika and Destinee. Sheryl and her husband, 
> Jerry, are
>  founders of Gate of Destiny Discipleship Center in Ingleside, Texas.
>        “Sitters didn't last, services were not offered, and, to be 
> honest, I
>  doubted I was going to keep my sanity,” Sheryl added.
>        Although Parsley believes special-needs kids are “miracles in
>  progress,” she wants people in the church to embrace them as more 
> than that.
>        “If they're always looking at this 'poor child,' then they don't
>  realize often what a tremendous gift they are,” noted Parsley, who 
> started
>  Bethany Place, a ministry at World Harvest for kids with special 
> needs.
>        According to some parents, limiting autistic children as people 
> to be
>  pitied is a problem for the church.
>        “I have heard countless people say they no longer go to church 
> because
>  it is too difficult with their kids,” said Sheryl, noting that 
> churches
>  update their facilities to accommodate people with physical 
> disabilities but
>  don't do the same for those with mental and emotional disabilities.
>        Jack said: “We have so many horror stories from parents. It just
>  breaks your heart when they go to church and they're not welcomed 
> because of
>  their child.”
>        For more information on autism ministries, visit
>  http://www.breakthrough.net/Bethany/Bethanyplace.htm and
>  http://www.childrenofdestiny.org
>
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