Letter to the Editor "Understand Asperger's"

I found this in today's Boston Herald.  It is a letter from a parent who has a child with Asperger's Syndrome.  It is very good.  I decided to paste this into my blog because what he wrote is so true about how difficult it is to be a teenager with Asperger's.

Understand Asperger’s
By Steve Sherman/ Letters
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

As a parent who has both lost a child and who has another child with Asperger’s syndrome, I would like to offer some comments on the killing of the student at Lincoln-Sudbury High School (“School stabbing,” Jan. 20). First, I extend my condolences and deepest sympathies to the Alensons.
    Secondly I have to both criticize and praise the Herald’s coverage. As a parent, I have seen how Asperger’s affects every aspect of a child’s life and have witnessed the ostracism and outright cruelty these children are subjected to.
    Asperger’s is a brain disorder and a disability - not learned behavior. For the Herald to uncritically print comments that the boy was “the guy people make fun of” and “was a really creepy kid” without mentioning that these children are commenting about a child with a disability is irresponsible. Kids can be cruel but adults should know better. Would the Herald print comments like that about a child with MS?
     I will commend writer Jessica Heslam in acknowledging that these children are not well served by public schools. This is the understatement of the new century. In reality the treatment of these children in the school systems is disgraceful and inexcusable. I have been engaged in a five-year battle to obtain proper placement and support for my son. With few exceptions, the reactions and responses from the staff have been somewhere between trivialization and indifference toward the problems.
     In no way would Itry to rationalize or excuse the tragic killing of the Alenson boy because the other child had a disability. However, I would emphasize that the treatment of children with Asperger’s in the schools is abysmal and the toleration of the bullying of these children is beyond disgusting.
    Steve Sherman, Roslindale

http://news.bostonherald.com/letters/view.bg?articleid=178621&format=text