Orange County Register

Thursday is Autism Awareness Day. Dr. Bill Murphy, an ER doc, and Jerrine Murphy, a registered nurse,  are Orange County parents of twins with autism.  On Wednesday they’ll give a free talk at Chapman University in Orange to raise awareness in the community about how we all can be involved in a multi-disciplinary approach to autism.

The talk takes place at 7 p.m. in Room 404, Bush Conference Center , Beckman Hall. A question-and-answer period with the Murphys will follow.

Jerrine Murphy has twins with autism.

Jerrine wanted to share with The Mom Blog her thoughts on how the wider community can help families who are raising children with autism. Here’s her guest post:

Strong support from your community makes all the difference when you’re faced with a crisis. Years ago, we had family, friends, and colleagues rallying around us when our children were initially diagnosed with autism. My husband Bill and I were overwhelmed 24/7 and we never dreamed that we would still be 12 years later.  Working as an emergency room physician at St. Joseph Hospital, the third busiest ER in California, and at Children’s Hospital of Orange County,  Bill remarks is respite compared to raising two children with autism.

Autism is a marathon and it takes a village!

Bill and I feel that there are so many simple ways that the community can help families with autism. This is the topic of our upcoming talk on April 1, Autism Awareness Day,  as part of a Chapman University lecture series called “It Takes a Village, and How The Community Can Help” sponsored by Chapman University and Health Matters with Dr. Larry Santora. During this presentation, we’ll discuss some ways that the community can support families living with autism.   Here are a few ideas.

Compassion. The old adage “don’t judge someone until you walk in their shoes” rings true.   Instead of commenting that their child is out of control, offer to help.   There are not enough hours in the day to meet the critical needs of our children much less worry about if we are perfectly coiffed or if our house is in disarray.   We have the same goals for our child as you have for yours, but ours is a much more arduous, tedious, and expensive journey.  Be patient with us and offer to help.

Skyping/iChat  Network. Kids with autism need tremendous opportunities to interact with typical peers if they are to master social skills. Repetition is key.  Skyping or iChatting for 15 minutes a day with a typical peer would enable adolescents to develop and expand their conversational repertoire and enhance their ability to pick up on subtle body language that is second nature to their peers.

We are grateful to Liana Korber, an 8th grade student at Harbor Day School who is Skyping/iChatting  with our children as part of her community service requirement for graduation.

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