Yesterday I wrote a blog entitled How Should We Present the Autism Spectrum to the Public? It's received some very thoughtful responses, and inspired me to present this challenge to interested readers:
If you were to craft a single message about autism spectrum disorders for the general public in 100 words or less, what would it be?Of course, I'm not a broadcaster - but this site does receive over 500,000 page views per month. And I will make a point of steering readers and subscribers to your messages. So please feel free to speak your mind!
Every single person you meet with autism is an individual with unique abilities, quirks and interests. “They” are not all brilliant, and not all of “them” live in their own world. If you know a someone with autism, ask their parents/ caretakers this question:” Tell me about your child. Can you give me some tips of how to relate to him? I’d love to help.”
We are people. Our brains may be wired up a little differently from yours but we are every bit as human. Perhaps some of us don’t show much emotion, that doesn’t mean we don’t feel, it may be just an inability to express. Some of us find it hard to understand your world view, we look at the same world from a different angle and our point of view is also valid. We are a wide spectrum of intelligence and abilities accept and relate to each of us as individual. Get to know us you may like us!We are people. Our brains may be wired up a little differently from yours but we are every bit as human. Perhaps some of us don’t show much emotion, that doesn’t mean we don’t feel, it may be just an inability to express. Some of us find it hard to understand your world view, we look at the same world from a different angle and our point of view is also valid. We are a wide spectrum of intelligence and abilities accept and relate to each of us as individual. Get to know us you may like us!
Health care fraud is a $100 billion a year racket in the US, and the bad guys know about autism.
In recent years, since the introduction of Augmentative Communication devices and speech generating devices such as portable laptop computers that provide language for the person with autism, we have now come to understand that many people with autism have a broad range of feelings, interests, opinions, and keen intellectual capacity. Just like everyone else, at the deepest core, people with autism are sweet, loving people who want to have close relationships with others, They just find it extremely difficult and confusing to express the thoughts and feelings that are locked up inside, Thus, developing and maintaining friendships is very, very challenging and just like anyone else, people with autism can often feel lonely and isolated as a result of their disabilities. People often misunderstand this and believe that individuals with autism want to be alone. That simply is not true. Some in the public believe or misunderstand the occasional unique talents of people with autism as indicating that they are “autistic savants” with special extra sensory perceptions, photographic memories or idiosyncratic genius. This is not usually the case, even though some persons with autism have surprising gifts—some never forget a name, others who may appear unable to communicate normally may be able to recite accurately the first 200 names in their video collections. It is all too easy to stereotype people with autism as bizarre and to forget the possible richness of their inner world of the possibility of their living a satisfying life. Still, we should not ignore the real challenges faced by people with autism nor the many traits and sensory impairments that can interfere with adaptation to life skills and to relationships.
Karen Kaye-Beall, Director
http://www.ARCHway.org
http://www.archway.ning.com
First, I really like what springingtiger said.
Here is what I’ve learned from knowing people with autism:
1. Clear communication. Many people with autism receive language quite literally. I’ve learned to set really clear verbal expectations, and I use this skill all the time.
2. People will accept your quirks and faults, if you own them. I have been impressed with how many people and communities have accepted people with autism into them, quirks and all. My theory is that it’s easier for us to accept someone who accepts themselves, quirks and all, than it is to accept someone who pretends that they have no quirkiness.
3. Saying what you really mean is truly powerful.
When people (with and without autism) speak the truth in a room, most people retreat into that slightly-awkward/slightly-awed silence, and think, “wow, you just said what everyone else was thinking”. This is a powerful silence, where people are facing the truth. I love it when this happens, and have been inspired by it. If I’m going to change the world, I can’t waste too much precious time tiptoe-ing around touchy issues.
Ah, the “autism elevator pitch” challenge. I’ve been trying to come up with something for years, with not much luck. I’ll shoot for 100 words, maybe even 140 characters (for Twitter), but that is quite a challenge.
I would say that autism disorders can not be described in 100 words or less without serious risk of misleading the reader.
Decades ago, “autism” was a documentary of a stimming non-verbal boy, who abruptly bounded over to his toys so he could arrange them in a precise line. Today, the face of autism is so much more – including bloggers, authors, speakers, sometimes people who haven’t shared their voice – but no matter what traits you consider, each one is a person, with their own strengths, hindrances, feelings and goals. That’s my hundred words or less, but to get the real picture, we need everyone’s hundred words.
Autism is a spectrum of conditions having in common an inability to intuit the sentience of fellow humans; thus people are perceived as unpredictable animations. Some autists become enamored with intricate objects. There is a lack of communication and reciprocity until these skills are learned by rote behavior and/or observation of cause and effect. Intelligence improves coping ability and outcome.
The conditions can be caused by fetal brain damage (often with other deformities) or by genetic predisposition resulting in measurable differences in brain structures. Autistic behavior is also associated with specific genetic defects, such as Down syndrome and Rett syndrome.
Here it is — exactly 100 words:
impaired social interaction, e.g. deficits in:
• nonverbal behaviors
• developing peer relationships
• spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people
• social or emotional reciprocity
impaired communication:
• delay or lack of spoken language, or difficulty in initiating/sustaining conversation
• stereotyped, repetitive, or idiosyncratic use of language
• lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe or social imitative play
restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities:
• abnormally intense/focused preoccupation with restricted interests
• inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
• stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms
• preoccupation with parts of objects
Autism is a complex social communication disorder; Auditory senses for some is unbalanced showing signs of SID (SENSORY INTERGRATION DISORDER)
VISUAL for many is more advanced. Because SID
prevents the Autie from experiencing life like a non Autie their sense of touch, smell, hearing, taste is unique. My son is stil unable to cross the street alone an he is 10. A CAR coming from 2 feet away to a non Autie may appear 10 feet away to a Autie. This is just one example of SID. Many children with Autism get hit by cars each year.
I know THAT SID CAUSES lEARNING CHALLENGES.
TRYING TO GET THE INSURANCE COMPANIES TO LISTEN AND HELP IS A NIGHMARE! THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS CAN BE A BITCH TOO!
Please get help if your child does not repond to their name, MAKE EYE CONTACT, isn’t talking, doesn’t play with his toys IN A NORMAL WAY, won’t let you touch him, cries non stop for hours and hours, won’t sleep, attaches to objects more than you, will not let you put water on them to bath them, etc. IN YOUR HEART YOU JUST KNOW AFTER TAKING CARE OF YOUR CHILD THAT SOMETING IS JUST NOT RIGHT! Please talk to your family doctor about your concerns and keep trying and trying and trying because you are all they have. Be their advocate for life like I’ve done. Form support groups for yourself and other parents. The people who will be there for you the most are other parents with children with special needs.
Good luck and God Bless!
AVOCATE
Kathy Chapman