Persuasive Speech On Autism

“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.

Autism, a developmental disorder is becoming widely diagnosed here in the U.S. and throughout the world affecting children in all different types of backgrounds. From children living in rural or urban, rich or poor. Currently there are many speculations and superstitions as to the causes for developing autism but science has no clear evidence as to why autism affects certain people and not others, autism can greatly affect the families and its patients for their entire lives. Most of you do not know that I have twin younger brothers with Autism. Before this speech, I had no clue what autism really was. Through my research I am now able to relay this information to you. Today I want to talk about Autism. The three things I will be speaking about is what is Autism? How does autism affect the family and how does autism affect people who have it?

      Autism is a disability that can create a barrier between the individual and his or her friends, family, and community. This disability often interferes with an individual’s ability to communicate, interact with others, engage in play or leisure skills, and to relate to the world around them. People with autism may exhibit repetitive movements, have unusual responses to people, be resistant to change and demonstrate aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior.

Currently, efforts are being made by foundations, such as Autism Speaks and the National Autism Association not only to bring awareness of seriousness of the disorder, but also to establish ways towards the cause and a cure for autism. In 1997, Congress requested the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Autism Coordinating Committee (ACC) to “enhance the quality, pace and coordination of efforts at the NIH to find a cure for autism” (NINDS, 2009 p.18). ASD is too extensive of a disorder to find a single cure for it; these “cures” would require millions of dollars in further research and testing, just like any other medication or treatment. While there have been autistic geniuses in the past, not all with ASD should be hailed as such; instead of trying to justify or cure the disorder, more people should be willing to accept it.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is a form of treatment of children with ASD that uses positive reinforcements . There are several different aspects that go into ABA therapy, which are encouraged by either positive reinforcement or the ability for the child to self-stimulate. There are several aspects of ABA therapy which are play a role in helping each and every child in therapy. The general concept behind ABA therapy is to analysis a child behavior specifically their problem behaviors (Boyd, et al., 2011). A problem behavior can be used by the child to escape the current situation they are in (Carr & Durand, 1985). ABA therapy is designed to help the children learn and avoid problem behaviors. This therapy has three main focuses: Intensive Teaching (IT), Natural Environment (NET), and Chaining (SRI Chains). During IT the child will participate in either note cards or workbooks (Carr & Durand, 1985). IT is what most people think of when talking about ABA therapy. In NET the children will interact with the therapies in fun games and other activites that incoperate some of the aspects they are learning in IT (Carr & Durand, 1985). SRI Chains are used as a form of IT. These chians allow the child

Autism- is a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before the age of 3, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.

Viewing this documentary, opinions of this individual with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) did, in fact, change the opinion of who they are. ASD can start from when they were born to a mature adult. This film presented lessons on how families and the individuals have gone through a daily lifestyle. One lesson that shown in the movie is that they understand going on however it may take the time to process through their brains.

Autism is a genetic disorder referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Makin, 2015). Characteristics of autism show general repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping, rocking, and head banging before the age of three (Makin, 2015). ASD has a variety of neurological and physical symptoms however, some children have high IQ?s with only restrained social deficiencies (Makin, 2015). Children with serious autism can be intellectually disabled and socially awkward (Makin, 2015). They can have problems with

Several studies have been conducted which focuses the needs for a young child with ASD. The article by Brown et al. (2012) aims to discover the areas where there is an unmet need for information, services, and resources among the families of the school-aged child with ASD. The researchers use a cross-sectional survey to conduct the study among 101 Canadian families who have a school-aged child with ASD. The “Family Needs Questioner” (Siklos & Kerns, 2006, as cited in Brown et. al, 2012, p. 499) is used to complete the survey, and more questions are added by the researcher to further gather information about the family and their child with ASD (Brown et. al, 2012). The questionnaire has identified

It is expected that all medical and health care professions would take care of people with autism at one point or another. For this reason, it is necessary for health care providers to have the adequate training to treat and deal with autistic people. It is also important “to provide the appropriate resources for autistic individuals and their families to help them participate actively in their medical care from an informed perspective” (Preißmann, 2017 p. 115).

In today’s world, it is easy to label people based on what society defines as “normal.” Society dictates how we view people on a daily basis and this forces people to view things from a singular perspective. Unfortunately, this single point of view may lead to discrimination against people who are “different.” For example, those with disabilities and other diagnoses are neglected, overlooked, or judged by those who are influenced by that singular perspective. In specific, Autism which is referred to as Autistic Spectrum Disorder, is something that the public has heard before but they do not fully understand or are unaware about its true definition. “According to the Centers for Disease Control’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM), approximately 1 in 68 children have been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)” (CDC, 2016). This increased prevalence is why it is important to continue educating the public about those living with Autism as well as critical for social awareness and for the overall health of the community.

When it comes to the Autism/Asperger spectrum it is an interesting disorder to learn and understand. As I had the opportunity to work with all range of children that have been diagnosed with Autism/Asperger, it is the students that have been recently diagnosed with Autism/Asperger that is interesting to learn about. I have the pleasure of helping a good friend of mine whom has a 3 year old son who was diagnosed with Autism during the summer of 2015 with understanding what is Autism and ways to support him with his diagnoses. As all parents at the beginning of learning their child has Autism/Asperger they are scared, they want to know what is best for their child when it comes to their development and what services are out there to help themselves and their child with their disability. As I observed my friend’s child, I learned that with the amount of support from family and friends along with his parent’s researching case studies and documentation on Autism, they are better equip of dealing with the disability than letting the disability take control of them.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2017), ASD is a group of developmental disorders that impacts 1 in 68 children and includes “a spectrum” of symptoms, skills, and levels of disability. Individuals with ASD may face challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, language and communication, and learn differently than

After knowing of the diagnosis parents go through a process of denial and uncertainty that leads to high level of distress after knowing of the diagnosis .These feelings increments as they realized how limited is their knowledge of their child’s condition. Among the issues that parents encounter is understanding the disorder, with so much information at hand is difficult to choose which information is reliable. Lack of access to appropriate information, both early on and as the child ages, is a significant barrier to adjustment for families with a child with ASD (Mitchell & Sloper,2002; Russa, Matthews, & Owen-DeSchryver, 2014; Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin, & Soodak, 2006). Reaching out for professional assistance allows for them to get access

Autism is a disorder characterized by significant problems in communication and social functioning. Autism is actually called Autism Spectrum Disorder and encompasses a broad range disabilities such as Asperger syndrome, Rett’s Syndrome, and Pervavasive Development Disorder (Dunlap & Fox, n.d.). There are also varying degrees of the disorder from low-functioning (no communication and no social interaction) to