My Experience Is Like A Lifelong Road

Understand how autistic spectrum conditions can impact on the lives of individuals and those around them

“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.

Understand how autistic spectrum conditions can impact on the lives of individuals and those around them.

Because I was in charge of his care I began speaking with more medical professionals and learned how much was unknown about Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). I enrolled in night classes and my first semester I had a professor who asked was I interested in research. This was the key I felt had always been missing. I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist but Dr. Collins opened my eyes to the world of medical research, and showed me how I could help families in numerous ways by becoming a research

The Case of Temple Grandin paints a picture of a young woman’s determination and hard work while struggling with autism during a time when the disorder was unknown. This case discusses Grandin’s challenges, early diagnosis, growth and development in school, and support from her mother. Temple Grandin could not speak like the other children at the age of two, so because doctors could not find any physical issues she had been subsequently labeled as brain-damaged. To communicate with others, she would throw tantrums and scream. She could speak by three and a half years old with the help of speech therapy. A few years later at the age of five, Grandin was diagnosed with autism so her mother worked with her 30

Instead of the usual stories about the transition of disability to normalcy, Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter’s Life with Autism covers the progress of a person with autism from childhood to adulthood as she manages her condition in the real world. The narrative is written by and based on the perspective of the main character’s mother as she follows along on her daughter’s journey of living with a disability. So, based on the experience of taking care of and observing her daughter, Clara Park reveal the difficulties Jessy and the family have to face because of the limited information on autism and the different disabilities during her time. Furthermore, knowledge mental health issues and rehabilitation was still developing in the 20th century, which

Most parents wonder what is the next chapter after their child with autism spectrum disorder graduate from high school, for some individuals, it is to move onto higher education. As stated by Cai and Richdale (2015), the USA has one of the lowest rates of college enrollment for individuals with ASD, with over 50% of these individuals being in neither education nor employment following their secondary school, with similar finding in the UK (p. 31). For the individuals with ASD who move forward in gaining a higher education will have to learn to adapt and determine how to transition into higher education. Mentioned by Cai and Richdale (2015), a USA national survey illustrated poor outcomes from transitioning from secondary school into adult-hood. “The findings showed that after young adults with ASD left the public school system, 80% continues to live at home, only 32% attended postsecondary education, just 6% had competitive jobs, while 21% had no employment or education experience at all. Further 40% reported having no friends. (p. 32)”

Are you able to comprehend the confrontations faced by an autistic child? In the book “the curious incident of the dog in the night time” by Mark Haddon, You are able to understand the challenges faced by the main protagonist Christopher Boone. In order to gain a sense of maturity an individual must overcome difficult challenges. This will be demonstrated by examining Christopher Boone’s ability to learn to become independent and understand social interaction and emotions.

Readings: • The Autistic Spectrum • Chapter 4 • “First Causes” pg. 115125/Summary pg. 140-141 • Chapter 13  This week’s agenda: Unit 2!

I learned how to best aid the development of some children with autism, especially Lawrence, who now can leverage his savant abilities to better interact with others. However, as I pored over articles and textbooks, I realized that I had not even scratched the surface of the physiological and psychological elements of the brain. Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences offers numerous opportunities to pursue my passion and I am thrilled at the prospect of exploring

Throughout Temple’s ‘emergence from autism’, Temple’s mother focused on Temple’s strengths and affirmed Temple’s differences and way of looking at the world. In letters to Temple, Mrs. Grandin wrote, “Be proud you are different. All bright people who have contributed to life have been different and found the path of life lonely. While the joiners and social butterflies flutter about, Temple, you’ll get real things done (p. 124). “You need symbols. You live them. Like a work of art they are a physical expression of what you feel” (p. 125). “Wanting to grow really loves yourself, loving the best part of yourself” (p.148).

Autism is a mental condition that makes it difficult to communicate and form relationships with others. Autism comes in a spectrum meaning a person can have high or low functioning autism that makes it easier or more difficult to manage. Hope has high functioning autism. Hope doesn’t let any of this slow her down one bit, she has many interest. Hope is interested in acting and performing so she joined the drama club. She loves to read and write and even writes rom-coms for an app/website called “watt pad”. I asked Hope two very important questions: what is one of the happiest and saddest moments of your life. Hope described her saddest moment as the time in 2011 when her grandfather that she was very close with passed away. She recalls times where they would go to Denny’s and have “fork battles”. Hope’s happiest moment actually has to do with RHS. When she first got here she recalls having good teachers like Mr. Khalif that made her finally have a sense of pride in the work that she did. This moment allowed Hope to a gain a certain confidence in herself and her work that she didn’t have before. Now that you’ve gotten a chance to know a little more about Hope take this time to think about how a person is deeper than what’s just on the

Van Hees, V., Moyson, T., & Roeyers, H. (2015). Higher education experiences of students with autism spectrum disorder. Challenges, benefits and support needs. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(6), 1673-1688.

As much as my freshman year self didn’t want to admit it, I knew going into my first year at Lowell High School that my life, and myself, were going to be different when I left four years later. Throughout my high school career I watched myself change, becoming more confident in myself and curious about the world around me. However, I was unable to pinpoint why that change was happening. I still had the same friends, did the same sports, and had the same hobbies as I had all throughout high school. After some deep reflection, I realized that during my junior year, there wasn’t a day that I didn't wake up more mature. The change happened slowly throughout that year, the big catalyst being my foreign exchange student from Spain, Paula Sebastia-Puig. Looking back on those 10 months with Paula, I realized she helped broaden my perspective on the world around me and grow as a person.

As I walked into freshman year I was by no means expecting to lose connection with myself on the way. I recall walking home after long days at school, absorbing my surroundings. Breathing in the sweet air as the calm breeze hit my face. Thinking to myself that this walk home was the only time I have anymore to just think and be myself. See I'm the type of person to go outside spending hours sitting, doing absolutely nothing. Just to assimilate the beauty of life. Time, space, me, my spirit, and my thoughts. At this moment there is no stress about the demand of getting excessive amounts of work done and memorizing notes for the next text. Having six-hour days to come home, sit down again, and have my head sink into the endless pages of