My Autistic Brothers

I bet you’ve seen at least one before. You know, those articles on the news about someone with autism, doing something amazing that any typical person would never envision them doing. Getting elected homecoming king, being on a cheerleading team, or carrying out an act of kindness that even non-autistic people wouldn’t ever consider are just some of the things that I’ve seen. Though these are spectacular self-esteem lifters for these individuals, warm and fuzzy stories for the public and excellent publicity for wherever they occur, many often forget that autism is a spectrum condition, and functioning levels vary, from wheelchair bound individuals to those in society whose names everyone recognizes.

“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.

Stereotypes tend to be made by those who lack understanding whether is unintentional or not. Understanding is the key to accepting and valuing all differences. Whether it is about our race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or whatever else makes up an individual’s identity. It is this lack of understanding that normally leads to stereotyped views, prejudice and discrimination. This sadly is mostly the case for those with autistic spectrum conditions and has a large affect on not only the

As a child, I often avoided confrontation by keeping my opinions to myself, no matter how offensive someone was. But when someone directed negative comments toward my autistic brother who could not defend himself, I lost my self-control. Witnessing the struggles Bo has gone through, I feel it is cruel and ignominious to belittle the battles autistic children deal with daily. I share this story to help disclose the need to treat others with the courtesy we all deserve.

Autism is a brain disorder that is characterized by slow and difficult comprehension of spoken and non-verbal communication and repetition of behaviors. Autism is normally noticed in the first two years of a child (Myers & Johnson, 2007). Asperger syndrome is an autistic disorder that has almost the same similarities with autism. People with Asperger syndrome have little comprehension of the world and its surroundings and poor communication with other people. People with Asperger syndrome are hard to recognize, as they do not show on their outward appearances. They are average or above average intellectually and have fewer problems in terms of speech and specific learning disabilities unlike in autism. These difficulties include dyslexia, epilepsy, and attention

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.

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

The name of the webinar was entitled The Autistic Brain. Temple believes that the diagnosis of autism is not important. A student should be given the services that they need to get them speaking and to help them become engaged in the world. The label can hold a student back because of all of the theory and diversity involved. Autism leads to uneven skills in the academic areas. The student may be great in math but behind in science. The student should be able to continue advancing in math and not be held back by his science deficit. When you hold students back you see behavior problems. Students on the spectrum should be taught life skills that focus on their strengths. If the student is good with taking things apart teach them about auto mechanics. Autistic students sometimes show sensory sensitivities. Temple says to try many different activities swinging, singing, vitamins, exercising to see what works for the individual student. If a child hates a certain sound (noise in the lunchroom) tape the sound and have the student turn the recording on at a low volume. This may help desensitize the student to the sound. She feels that some students are master manipulators. If the student throws a temper tantrum in the cafeteria then he should have consequences. Temple presents many valid points and offers suggestions to help the student become better engaged in their

The video I have decided to evaluate is “The beauty of being a misfit” by Lidia Yuknavitch. With Lidias speech, she was able to get her point across clearly, I was able to follow and not lose interest or track of the message she was trying to perceive to her audience. Lidia was able to get her main idea and point across by reaching out to her audience with her own personal life story of being a misfit in almost everything she did, but still being a misfit and accomplishing her dream was clear and understanding. So, clear that while she was speaking, my life and my misfits were running through my head. Her purpose of her speech was effective because it made me realize that you can only live out your story and make it what you want to do with

Imagine if society could give them what they experienced together. Ironically, they are people who want what we all want in life; but why is it easier for us to get what they are also seeking? That’s the amazing message behind the video, Wretches and Jabberers, following the path of two men with autism who bring awareness to their disability and why it should not define their intelligence. In the video, Tracy Thresher, 42, and Larry Bissonnette, 52, travel to Sri Lanka, Japan and Finland. They experience all aspects of the cultures – food, religion, tourist attractions, and much more.

I really enjoyed watching the assigned video Ask an Autistic: What is Autism? My impression is that Amethyst is a bright young woman and is excellent at explaining what Autism is and how it can influence people. As a mother of a child on the spectrum, I find her videos extraordinarily helpful in terms of gaining a better understanding of how my son perceives and experiences the world around him. I was already familiar with many of the topics that Amethyst discussed in her video such as the varying degrees of communication that can be found in autistic individuals and the problems associated with sensory integration.

Looks can be deceiving. Although this is a rather cliché expression, it can perfectly describe my family of five. On the outside, my family of looks normal, but we have a hidden blessing that many do not notice. I am the youngest of my siblings with two older brothers. One of them has Asperger’s syndrome. He is our hidden blessing. Externally, he looks normal, but internally he is coping a complicated developmental disorder. Despite all the difficulties he brings upon my family, I consider him a blessing because he brings awareness to the household that life isn’t as easy for some people as it is for others. He makes me appreciate the simple things in life that come natural to me but is very difficult for him to visualize or accomplish. One

As a child I used to believe that my life could not get any better because at the age of 6, I had everything that I ever wanted. I was the center of attention and my parents always had enough time to play with me. I always received the most expensive toys, dolls and clothes from my relatives and cousins. I was also brash and troublesome, purposely placing my older siblings in trouble whenever they made me cry or when they don’t follow the things I wanted them to do. In short, I had the life of a very spoiled, stubborn and ignorant child but nevertheless, I used to believe that my life was perfect. That was before my parents told me that I was having a younger sibling.

In reviewing the required videos and reading on low incidence, there were a large range of how it affected individuals are processed by individuals without disabilities, these videos demonstrates what it is like to try to be normal with a disability. The first video called, Autistic Basketball Player,” presented an enlighten outcome, that people should not assume that individual with disability are not able to contribute to a job or sport. Jason Mcelwain’s a young man with Autism that id given to chase an individual with a disability self-worth is just as valuable as the rest of the team when it come to sport. The second video called, “Breaking Barriers of Autism: The power of Kindness and friendship present how individuals with disabilities are able to leap bounties id one person will acknowledge them. In his lecture he was able to present insight on how lonely it is on another side of the disability spectrum.

“My daughter has Autism! And I know she can grow up to be a very normal person, like her peers, like everyone else! She does NOT need to go to an institution! We’re also never ever coming back again!”