Friday, July 29, 2011

A Woman with Breast Cancer - and Autism

I sometimes dread the time that Bil will become seriously ill.  You have to know that day will come one day.  How will doctors be able to communicate with him?  How will we?

One effect autism has on a person is that is makes it very difficult for that person to communicate with others.   And it is so difficult to know what that person understands, and doesn't.


Thanks to a blogger with autism who has been blogging about her experiences, readers are going to experience, second hand, how a woman with autism copes with a diagnosis of breast cancer.  I need to pay special attention to this.

Donna Williams, a talented artist in her late 40's (who also happens to have autism) from Australia, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

 One of the special things about Ms. Williams is her ability to communicate.  It is much more highly developed than the ability of Bil, or, for that matter, a lot of people with autism.  That is what makes reading Ms. Williams blog so special.

She has written several posts over the last several days about her experiences. She has chosen to make them public.  I can only wish her the best.


To me it is even more amazing that one of Donna's recent posts is "How Do I Talk to Someone with Cancer?"  This comes from her experience when she revealed her diagnosis to others.  (Warning - the post contains language some may consider inappropriate).

It doesn't solve the problem of how to communicate with Bil but perhaps reading Ms. William's experience, I will gain some insight for Bil.

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