Usually when I tell people that I work with children with disabilities, the first disability they ask me if I work with is autism. I get questions like, “What is it like working with kids with autism?” and “How do they communicate with you?” I sometimes dread answering these kind of questions – though I love what I do and I love talking about it, it is nearly impossible to answer concisely because no two individuals with autism are the same.
Everyone has heard of autism. Nearly everyone you meet either knows someone who has autism or has interacted with someone who has autism at some point in their lifetime. Yet people still remain ignorant about the disorder; though everyone knows of it, a vast majority does not truly understand what it is or what it entails.
One of the main misconceptions regarding autism is that it constitutes one disability. Autism is not defined as one specific disability, but rather as a spectrum of disabilities (ASDs). Social scientists have divided individual ability into certain measurable categories, and within each of those categories is a spectrum; the points at which one’s ability falls on each spectrum varies based on the extent and type of the individual’s disability. The main categories are as follows: measured intelligence, social interaction, communication, behaviors, sensory, and motor. Each one of these categories has two “extreme” ends; for example, the measured intelligence category’s extremes are intellectual disability and gifted. In other words, some individuals with autism have intellectual disabilities while others are extremely gifted in one or many areas. Some categories’ spectrums are even more complicated. Within the sensory category, one individual may experience both extremes but in different capacities; an individual could be very sensitive to sound but not very sensitive to touch, or the other way around.
Regarding communication, abilities vary widely also. Some individuals are completely nonverbal, while some are verbal and their speech remains unaffected by the disability. One boy that I have worked with for quite some time now has autism and is almost completely nonverbal; though he cannot form words or sentences, he knows how to scream when he is unhappy or does not like something. Even I was ignorant regarding his spectrum – I assumed that he did not possess the ability to understand language just because he could never speak or respond to me. On my last day of work at swim lessons before leaving for college, he gave me a card that he had made. It had my name on the outside, and on the inside it read: Dear Miss Abby: Thank you for teaching me to swim. I will miss you a lot. Love, Jordan*. I was completely taken aback when I received this; I had assumed that because he never talked to me, he could not read or write either.
So, don’t judge a book by its cover! I was still making false assumptions about an individual after working with him for over two years, and I would bet that others have made similar incorrect assumptions about individuals based on their appearance or a few things you know about them. Has anyone ever made a false assumption about you because of your appearance, abilities, religion, etc? How did you respond to that incorrect assumption, and what would you encourage others to do to avoid making false assumptions about others?
*Name changed for privacy reasons.
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/signs.html
I think your topic for your passion blog is admirable. I personally would like to know more about different disabilities or about the common misconceptions, as with Autism.
Although I knew Autism had a range of disabilities, I did not know the broadness of the spectrum you described. The fact that there are many categories and then even two “extreme ends” for each is amazing. It is crazy that in one category someone could be gifted and in another disabled. There are so many nuances about Autism that I did not know before this and I believe I know more about it after reading your post.
I found the card story touching. Your assumption that he could not understand you because he did not talk to you was probably what I would have assumed, too. I hope now that I will not make assumptions like this in the future. You question concerning assumptions in everyday life is thought provoking. Assumptions occur as a result of appearance, religion, background, class and other things. I know that I have made assumptions based off of these things, unfortunately, and others have done the same to me. Because of my appearance, or more specifically my height, people have assumed I am much younger than I am. I usually feel annoyed by this, since it happens so often. These assumptions that bother me have encouraged me to not judge a book by its cover, though. I would encourage others to avoid this by thinking back on a time when it has happened to them. I would ask “How did it make you feel?” I am sure that this one simple question would have the right effect.