Help simply isn't always available

I am responding to the article regarding Temple Grandin speaking at Kaneland High School. As someone with Asperger Syndrome, one of the "mild cases" of autism, I want to tell you that there is nothing mild about my AS.

I have endured severe auditory sensitivity since infancy, something I have struggled with and has worsened as I've grown into adulthood.

There wasn't any intervention or support groups. There wasn't anything, period, back in the 1980s. Therefore, my "potential" was overtaken by my handicap. I am now a shut-in because I become over stimulated by crying babies to the point I have a meltdown each and every time I hear them.

I am not able, due to my age and the lack of funding for people with developmental disabilities in Illinois, to get any support or therapy that might help me.

People have always been frustrated with me for how "normal" I come across and how spoiled or manipulative, to name a few misnomers, I become when I encounter a social faux pas or become over-stimulated.

I see seminar after conference go by and know due to my nature that it would be sheer torture to attend. I also know that the bulk of the media and medical profession attention is focused on children, while people like me suffer in silence.

I'm very glad Ms. Grandin received the help she needed, especially in an era when there was even less available than there is now. I also know that what one has in the bank plays a significant role as to the services one receives.

My mother is retired and relies solely on her government check while Ms. Grandin's parents were people of means. Let's be realistic. How much of a success an autistic individual will be depends on two things: where specifically the abnormality falls in their brain and what kind of services they are eligible for due to age or socio-economic status.

Allison M. Kramer

Carpentersville