The Santa Fe Asperger's Syndrome Meetup

I am willing to host a Meet Up for family members of people with Asperger's Syndrome here in Santa Fe, and Josh has contacted this group and indicated an interest in hosting a Meet Up specifically for individuals with Asperger's Syndrome here in Santa Fe; but we need to hear from people to gauge the level and type of interest.

FYI, our son who has Asperger's Syndrome attended Capshaw Jr High and Santa Fe High here in Santa Fe. He was not diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome until he was 22. Though he did receive a diagnosis of depression and borderline schizophrenia as a teen, the psychiatric care he received here was sadly uninformed and misdirected, and didn't pick up on his real, underlying issues with communication; nor did the public schools, which considered him a gifted student; nor did we, his parents. Ryan is now 26 and living in Brooklyn, and we are just beginning to learn about the kind of developmental disability-related services that he has access to in Brooklyn, and the intensive therapies that would have helped him tremendously had they been available in Santa Fe when he was a young teen. I would like to spare other families the wasted decades we and our son experienced without receiving the proper diagnosis, information, therapy and support. Because our son may well end up living with us again if he is unable to live independently, (it's touch-and-go right now) I am currently researching Asperger services available in Albuquerque through UNM. I still haven't yet found any services or knowledgible therapists specific to Asperger's Syndrome in Santa Fe. If you know of any, please contact me!The local NAMI affiliate is helpful in a general way, and has some good services geared towards other brain disorders, like depression and schizophrenia. While I found their Family-to-Family program helpful, they, too, had nothing specific to offer regarding the entire Autism spectrum. That's a huge gap in services!

So, if you'd like to meet either as a family member, or as a person with Asperger's Syndrome, so we can help build a knowledgible community here in Santa Fe, please let me know. I'll coordinate with Joshua. Anne McLaughlin