Autism Is A Pervasive Developmental Disorder

There are autistic individuals on both ends of the spectrum. Those on the lower end exhibit some of the behaviors associated with “classical autism,” like jitters and cognitive impairment. While others, like myself, are on the other end, still “autistic,” but can mask mild symptoms quite well, and function in society though wearing labels of “odd” or “quirky” with high functioning autism, and some are in the middle. No matter which form of autism an individual has, life is different for that person in more ways than one, both beneficial and challenging.

“Work to view my autism as a different ability rather than a disability. Look past what you may see as limitations and see the gifts autism has given me…Be my advocate, be my friend, and we’ll see just how far we can go” –Ellen Botbohm, author of Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew.

Let’s say you have a box of crayons. It represents ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), now inside the box you have different colors of crayons. Each color/crayon is a different disorder. The color we want to talk about today is teal, the official color for autism. Stuart Duncan once said, “Autism, like a rainbow, has a bright side and a dark side and even though it can mean rough waters it can be beautiful.” Autism isn’t a label, it’s a diagnoses. People with autism can be just as successful as neurotypical people. People with autism have been the subject of stereotypes and neglect for decades. Only in the last 150 years or so have things started to change. We don’t know what causes autism, but thanks to increased research and awareness we’re making more progress than ever. People with autism face many challenges everyday, autism is a spectrum. It’s not the same for everyone. Due to it being a spectrum it can be hard for people without autism to understand the challenges autistic people face, and how to go about interacting with autistic people. There are lots of autistic people worldwide, it’s time we start making them feel more like people.

Autism Speaks is disrespecting the autistic community, through advertisements that paint autism in a dark, ugly light, while organizations like the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), and the Autism Science Foundation (ASF) give autism and

“Autism is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by severe and sustained impairment in social interaction, deviance in communication, and patterns of behavior and interests that are restricted,

Abby Powers’ “Speaking of Autism” presents a convincing argument to convince her audience into agreeing and believing in her thesis. She utilizes rhetorical elements such as simple sentence structure, pathos, ethos, and logos to adapt to her intended audience and to keep the reader engaged in her essay. By providing a personal story of the tribulations she experienced with an autistic twin sister, she proves the fact that people with this disability deserve equal treatment from those around them. The majority of “Speaking of Autism” deals with Powers’ personal history with autism; however, before she delves into her own experiences, she establishes the ethos by discussing the idea of human communication.

Autism Spectrum Disorder. ASD. Autism. When people hear any of these, it’s either “avoid that person at all costs”, “be super sympathetic”, “pretend to be their friend” or “I have no idea what that is”. My best friend and illustrator of my second book, has no idea what autism is. I tried explaining it to her. It’s very hard to explain how you feel, first of all. To put the fact that you are autistic makes it even more difficult. It doesn’t bother me too much that she doesn’t know. As long as she knows that I truly am a good person, we’re good.

ociety often has a misunderstood perception of individuals that carry autism. People infer that these autistic individuals are ignorant or sometimes even refer to them as retarded, they treat them as if they’re completely oblivious to what is actually going on around them, and they put these individuals at a lower ranking than ourselves. People that have this disorder are often mocked or called names. The world looks at them as ignorant, incapable vegetables, when in reality, they’re actually geniuses and masterminds. Autism does not make people that carry it stupid or even retarded, it doesn’t deprive them of intelligence, and it doesn’t make them any dumber than you and I. Carriers of autism usually only lack in their social skills rather than their intellectual skills. Autism is a severe disorder that hinders carriers of it to be able to communicate and socially interact with others

When reading the first chapter of Ten Things Every Child with Autism wishes you Knew by Ellen Notbohm, multiple thoughts ran through my head. I honestly feel that she did an excellent job expressing the thoughts about autism. In my point of view autism is so much more than a diagnosis. Two important people in my life have autism and honestly, they are the most amazing individuals I have ever met. The authors words that brought tears to my eyes was, “My autism is part of who I am, not all of who I am” (Notbohm 17). This statement moved me, because individuals with autism are so much more than a label. Individuals that have autism are talented, intelligent, caring, kind, and funny. We should not judge or treat an individual different by the way they express themselves. Each individual is unique and should be able to express themselves in their personal way instead of being labeled in a negative way. I have personally encounter individuals use words such as, “that autistic boy” or “just leave him other there, he doesn’t understand the material because he is autistic”. When I hear people says these negative things, it makes me angry and sad, because I believe that they have not fully comprehended the diagnosis as well as not allow themselves to get to know

Should individuals use person-first language or not? Moreover, individuals who have autism and are at the meeting are not able to reach their goals of how they can rightfully identify themselves. This debate, being a controversial subject, makes it more difficult for autistic members to get their opinions heard. Brown wants people to explain carefully what they are arguing for so that they can help others understand the problem with semantics when it comes to person first language. By allowing other people to articulate their arguments rationally, they can inform others to as why they prefer a certain order of terminology. As Brown mentions, “I urge you to consistently use such phrasing everywhere possible, whenever discussing autism and issues that affect Autistic people, and to develop coherent, rational explanations for why you prefer this terminology, so that you can engage in such mutually respectful and civil exchanges with others” (par. 21). Brown shows how being consistent with one’s words in regard to autism allows for other people to rightfully understand one’s opinion as they intended.

I believe many of us would assume that everyone thinks in the same way as ourselves. We think in words and ideas. We are “verbal thinkers.” However, do you ever thought about people who might think differently than you? Not everyone is a verbal thinker or a conventional thinker. If you don’t have autism, you may have thought those who do are different or maybe even “strange.” In her speech, The world needs all kinds of minds; Temple Grandin, a woman with autism, discusses how people with autism think differently than others. She says that she “thinks in pictures” and that many others with autism also think this way. She also explain how it differs from the conventional sense of thinking. She gives personal experiences throughout her speech. She is able to tell of how she overcame some of the cons that is sometimes associated with autism. Grandin’s main argument is that individuals with autism should be encouraged to branch out and should not be confined where they don’t feel comfortable. They should not be forced to act the same as others but to be who they are. She advocates that they are individuals and they should be treated as such.

To eliminate bias and hatred against autistic or differently abled children and individuals, it is important to educate the masses about the endless possibilities autistic people are born with.

Autism Speaks. (2012). The Federal Response to Autism. Retrieved June 17, 2012, from HYPERLINK "http://www.autismspeaks.org" http://www.autismspeaks.org.

Autism spectrum disorder still after decades is surrounded by misinformation despite the progression of scientific studies on the subject. Mitchell and Locke created an online survey to better evaluate the information surrounding autism spectrum disorder. Several questions were asked such as where they get information about autism spectrum disorder, where to get help, when it can be diagnosed, etc. It was found that most people get their information about autism spectrum disorder from the media or close friends instead of doctors or clinics. The people with accurate knowledge were people in school or who worked as childcare workers. Media was found to be a key source of information for minorities and this may have cultural implications. There are some minorities that are ashamed to discuss mental disorders and are unlikely to seek medical help. Culture has a huge impact on how people act and this includes how we seek treatment for perceived problems. Gona, Newton, et. al explored this on the Kenyan coast between two countries and across a variety of religious backgrounds. They found that there were several causes preternatural, biomedical exposures, and genetics. Witchcraft, curses, and evil spirits were viewed as causes of autism spectrum disorder which resulted in the use of healers or spiritual cures. Those who believed it to be of a biomedical cause went to health facilities for treatments. The interesting part was that the groups interviewed ranged through different

“To treat one particular group as the normal or default group inevitably serves to privilege that group and to marginalize those who don't belong who don't belong to the group.” (p189) Walkers purpose for composing this text is to protest against the idea of normality and the hidden oppression of many groups such as autistic people. He refers to the hidden oppression as outposts. Walker goes on to explain how outposts represent the things that neurominorites go through when they accept what society thinks is normal, which is as Walker describes a phenomena of internalized oppression. The main key to a paradigm shift is to first solve the issue of internalized oppression, this is a complex issue to solve because people with autism have been treated differently and seen as diseased so they will now think that they have been