Griffin Frederick's Tough Challenges

“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.

Originally, I was drawn to speech pathology after my sister’s diagnosis of Autism at the age of three. Watching Diane struggle with language development and acquisition while other children seemed to grasp these skills naturally is what initially sparked my interest in helping families like my own. At the start of my junior year, I set out to obtain experiences working with different populations. Toward the latter half of junior year, I became involved as a clerical volunteer at the Sacramento Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center. By senior year, I was balancing a full course load alongside three volunteer experiences. In addition to Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center, I divided my time between tutoring at a neighboring elementary school in the Twin Rivers School District and serving as an intern at the Autism Center for Excellence (ACE). During my undergraduate experience, I welcomed the opportunity to work with students that struggled with literacy, language, and pragmatic skills. After graduation, it was my goal to obtain additional experience in the field as a speech-language pathology assistant.

A few months ago I worked as an attendant to a 12-year-old boy with autism. I would go to his house and help out his family with anything that had to do with him. Some of the things that I would do were pick him up from school, prepare food him, and help him complete daily tasks. He did not speak at all, so it was really hard for me at first, but as the weeks went by I learned his facial expressions, his chart, and his sign language. Although it was difficult to work with him, I would like to continue working with special needs kids but in another setting.

In ninth grade, my mother suggested that I volunteer with peers at my high school who are special needs. She thought it would be good for me to meet other people my age who have their unique struggles in school, much like myself. I protested originally, but little did I know I would love volunteering with my peers, regardless of their disability. During this time, I signed up to volunteer with a local organization called Buddy Ball. At Buddy Ball, I had the opportunity to teach children with disabilities ages five through twenty-one baseball. When I volunteered with my peers, I mainly saw high schoolers with severe autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbances, whereas with Buddy Ball most of the participants had severe autism, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, or a multiple of disabilities. Both of these experiences allowed me to gain knowledge of a variety of special

Steve Silberman, also the author of "NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity," illuminates in his article "Autism speaks needs to do a lot more listening" that the organization raises millions of dollars to fund autism research yet fails to prioritize the people on the autistic spectrum. Instead of Autism Speaks devoting their efforts towards bettering the lives of people on the spectrum, he claims the organization invests more time into research which does not greatly impact the lives of Autistic people. Silberman elaborates on this assertion by first appealing to the reader's emotions by detailing the dehumanizing methods the organization has adopted, outlining corroborative facts

She could not walk, talk, or move freely and was confined to a wheelchair. In spite of her challenges, Amy always had a smile on her face which generated from her genuine heart of unconditional love for everyone around her. Even though Amy could not communicate with ease, she used every ounce of energy to utter the words “I love you, Gabe.” She did everything with a positive attitude and was willing to engage in the all of the activities at camp such as drama, art, dance and even basketball. Not once did she ever display frustration, and what an impact this had on me. The optimistic way the campers view everything in life is a blessing to observe, and a model by which I strive to live my

The person I chose to write about was my brother Isaiah Thomas. He is fifteen-year-old African American male about 6 foot 1. He has white teeth with a smile that will light up the room, black hair and brown eyes. He was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina about thirty minutes away from a little town called Troy, North Carolina. He grew up with our mother and his father. Our mother was a sixth grade English teacher and his father was a teacher as well as a high school head football coach. At age seven he was up rooted and moved to Rocky Mount, North Carolina where he attended Benvenue Elementary, Edwards Middle School, and now for high school Rocky Mount Academy. After, moving he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He is a sophomore who

There is a boy who is 13 years old and lives in Scottville Michigan who goes to my old school. His name is Gabe Sessions. He is just another normal person like the rest of us but, when he was around 10 he developed a disease that is called Osteopenia, it decreases the strength of your bones. Usually you start to get signs of Osteopenia around 35 but, he developed it at an early age. He has to be in a wheelchair 24/7 because of it. He is still just a normal person like the rest of us but not physically. I didn't pick him just because he has a disability or because I feel bad for him. I picked Gabe for other reasons.

Autism Speaks enhances lives today and is accelerating a spectrum of solutions for tomorrow.” Based on research, Autism Speaks does a great job to help those with Autism. They also help others understand what Autism is by providing useful information to uninformed parents and family members. The organization is built to bring people to understand what autism is and how an individual can help and support a child with autism. The mission statement is relevant to their goal as an NPO and no changes should be made to their mission statement.

This year through National Honor Society I had the opportunity to participate in a study to better the social skills of autistic youth. Once a week I attended a photography class each week we alternate between taking pictures and editing them. The autistic students come an hour before we do and work on how to interact with people. Through the photography class we interacted with the participates and recorded video conversation over the twelve weeks of the class to establish how they are progressing. The students review their videos and get feedback on their conversational skills. Through this experience I have made many friends and have learned that I love to help people. I have thoroughly enjoyed helping these teenagers learn social skills

Did you know that one in very sixty-eight children is diagnosed with autism? Many Americans do not know that much about autism or its effects and challenges that come with it. What is autism anyways? Autism is a neurological disorder that affects one’s ability to communicate with others, respond to stimuli in an appropriate way, or build relationships (Barnes,2015). Temple Grandin was just two years old when she was diagnosed with autism. Temple has faced, and will continue to face many barriers in her life with this disorder, but has overcome many of them. She has used her abilities and her different perspective to accomplish amazing things.

I have had numerous opportunities to volunteer and work with children of all abilities. Many of these children had independent or concurrent learning disabilities, emotional problems, and/or behavioural problems. I met these individuals through organizations I volunteered or worked for, programs I organized, and through summer camps where I was a counsellor that all catered children with disabilities. I also have personal relationships with children of family friends.

Autistic kids are special people, and as stated in the video, there are some kids like Henry, who has high-functioning autism, where they are gifted in a particular subject (in his case, its dinosaurs), and with proper guidance, they can become very intelligent. Before the “Miracle Project” happened, each and every parent had their struggles, from depression to divorces, but as time moved on, they learned to adapt with their child, and after the successful project, the parents and the kids each learned something about Autism and about one

Mrs. Patti Koski, my family friend, grew up with an autistic brother. She became a speech pathologist and worked with children who had special needs. However, she wanted to do more. Because of Jimmy, her brother, it was always her dream to open a summer camp for children diagnosed with autism. In the summer of 2009 she turned her dream into reality and moved from suburban Perry Hall to the countryside in Hydes, Maryland. Complete with 12 rolling acres, an acre large pond, a brand new pool, woods to explore, and a large, red barn, this became the

I am very passionate about working with kids with autism. They have such amazing personalities and I feel like people don’t see past the disability to the unique person they are. For several years I worked at a residential facility for kids on the spectrum. I was a direct care staff that worked one on one with them to work on their goals their treatment plan was focusing on. My passion to help kids with autism comes from my previous experience working with these kids and watching them grow and learn new skills. This transformation that I watched happen and helped be a part of with these kids made me want to help more kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There are a lot of skills that need to be taught to these children. Socialization, communication, and positive behavior are just a few kids with autism need help improving. I believe that the earlier that you teach a child these skills the more successful they will be. Early intervention has had a positive outcome within many research experiments that professionals have done. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) also requires schools to teach kids with disabilities alongside typically developed kids as much as possible.