Chantal Sicile-Kira, Carmel Valley, California – Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Complete Guide was published 10 years ago.
Chantal Sicile-Kira’s son, Jeremy, now aged 25 was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3 while living in France. Kristina Houck writing in the Del Mar Times reported that Chantal was told by doctors that bad parenting had caused his autism and that he should be placed in a psychiatric hospital. This is what propelled her to write her book.
“I knew better, having worked with professionals in the field in the United States. But it really bothered me that all these parents, who didn’t know anything about autism, would hear that from their doctor.”
The book was published by Penguin Group 10 years ago and won “Outstanding Book of the Year” by the Autism Society of America and “Best in Health” by the San Diego Book Awards.
Chantal has now re written the book, which is now called ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Complete Guide to Understanding Autism‘. The book covers the causes of autism, treatments, teaching strategies and resources for professionals.
Chantal told the Del Mar Times:
“I’ve rewritten about 85 percent of it because of all the changes and information that we now know about autism that we didn’t know before.”
In the 1970s Chantal worked with autistic people at Fairview State Hospital, now called Fairview Developmental Center.
Chantal gained a bachelor’s degree in social ecology and worked as a case manager for Regional Center of Orange County that provided information and resources to families.
Chantal told the paper that at the time of her son’s diagnosis psychoanalysis was the only treatment available in France. Children with autism also did not have a right to education
“If I didn’t know any better, maybe I would have ended up putting my son in a psychiatric hospital in France.Maybe I would have thought it was my fault.”
Jeremy graduated from Torrey Pines High School. He is a youth representative to the United Nations for the Autism Research Institute.
Chantal ends by saying that when Jeremy was growing up she was given no hope for him.
“There is hope. I just love empowering people with the information they need to help somebody.”
Chantal Sicile-Kira website www.chantalsicile-kira.com
The original article in the Del Mar Times can be found here