Sunday, October 25, 2009

Indigo Children


I have a friend named Mi. We try to get together at least every other month. For about a year now she has been asking questions about autism. Mi's nephew has been acting very strange. He goes into these screaming fits. He sits in the corner by himself, he does not want to be touched. He will not look you in the eye or when he does it is as if his eyes are blank. Mi said she had a pinata on her daughters birthday. When the the kids broke the pinata her nephew ran and grabbed the candy that had golden wrappers. He did not want any candy but the kind with gold wrappers. He took his loot back to a place where he was by himself and perfectly lined the candy up on the floor. He does not seem to interact with others. He hasvery little language, Everyone in Mi's family is thinking something is really wrong with this kid. Different people in the family tried to approach Mi's brother in law and sister in law. The in laws response was "he'll grow out of it"

In September Mi's nephew started Kindngrraden. The minute he got into the classroom he started screaming. And he wouldn't stop screaming. The staff did everything in their power to stop the kid from his tantrum. Finally they gave up and called his mom to come and get him.. The problem is so bad with this kid, the mom drops him off at school then she waits in the hallway to find out if he is going to settle down or not. The mom said she was really embarrassed that her child was acting that way. The school told the parents the kid is going to the school shrink and told the parents they need to go to a shrink too. Mi thought finally the school would tell the family the child was autistic and the family was going to come to terms with the child's disability.

Mi's sister in law went home and called some kind of emergency hot line . They put her in contact with a Dr. in Berkeley. My heart dropped when Mi said Berkeley. Don't get me wrong I love Berkeley as much as the next aging hippy. I guessed by Mi's demeanor she was getting ready to tell me something unsettling

Dr. Shrink told Mi sister in law and her husband that their child was an "indigo child." Their son (like other indigo children) are the "next step in evolution". Their child was of higher intelligence that is why he goes into screaming fits. He is smarter then everyone else therefor, he gets very frustrated when placed in a room full of kindergartner's. Dr. Shrink told the parents not to discipline the boy. He already knows what he wants and you have to give it to him, you do not want to insult a prodigy. Dr. Shrink said "indigo children are put on this earth to teach us something." My question is - aren't all children put on this earth to teach us something? As Mi is telling me this she is getting more and more upset. Her sister in law is buying into the theory.

I told Mi that her sister in law looks around and sees everyone else in the family has typical children. She wants her child to be at the very least typical if not better. I can't imagine how hard it would be to realize your child is not the same as the other children.

The in laws have divorced themselves from the family. They will not talk to anyone about anything.

Mi is fearful that the boy will not get the help he needs. I get really angry that there are very cruel people in this world who take advantage of those who are hurting.

I will let you know how Mi's nephew when I hear something.



2 comments:

ChaChaneen said...

Oh that poor family - indigo - what a bunch of crap from that doctor... makes the precious thing sound like an alien! My nephew is 100% Austism and his behavior signs are extremely similar... non-social, prefers to be alone, has OCD about certain objects, etc. This family needs intervention quick as the correct environment can do wonders for him, especially in daily school life with special schools for this. There is so much more available today than there was 20 years ago when my nephew was first diagnosed and the sooner the parents are no longer in denial and get themselves hooked up with a lot and there are A LOT of other parents right in their own community probably, they will have doors opened up to them.

Lila said...

That is such a crock of crap. I have some close friends who have a severely autistic son. Initially Jo Ann, the mom was single, and her son had the behavior that that screaming and tantrum behavior that Mi's nephew had, but when she married her husband, Jerry Todd, those types of behaviors changed. He is still autistic, that hasn't changed at all, but they have now worked with him and he is much more controlled in public. Anyway, there's a lot more to it, but I know that autistic children respond to loving intervention.