Not everyone with autism is the same.
“Remember this, if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism. Don’t think that (if) you’ve just met one person, you’ve met them all,” said University of Idaho Alumnus Will Symons.
The Autism Speaks Corporation, a nationally recognized research organization devoted to learning about and helping individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), considers ASD to be a neurological disorder that attributes difficulties in communication issues, whether through lack of eye contact, verbally, missing social cues or repetitive behaviors. However, this definition is only the first layer of the onion.
Overtime this tuned hearing becomes hazy, and deciphering words in a public place becomes demanding. Conversely, after an exhausting day an individual falling asleep can easily be disturbed by an unwanted sound. In a similar manner, individuals with ASD regularly cannot filter loud noises, which causes the brain to drown in racketing noise.
“The brain is capable of filtering loud noises in a crowd so that a person can selectively listen to friends while ignoring disruptive clamor. This is known as spatial hearing, a process that allows the brain to select a sound that a person deems more important than frequencies at equal levels.
We like to think of it as more of a spectrum instead of Autism, Asperger’s or pervasive developmental disorder … Classifying it all under Autism Spectrum Disorder does broaden everything, and its more inclusive,” said UI Clinical Assistant Professor Gwen Mitchell.
According to Mitchell, diagnosing ASD cannot accurately be found in blood samples or MRI scans. The only way to properly identify ASD is through psychological evaluations.
One way to comprehend what ASD is like is to learn about the Theory of Mind test, where a specialist tells a child a story about two girls “” Sally and Anne. The test, which was published by Simon Baron Cohen, Alan Leslie and Uta Frith in 1985, helped evaluate potential patients. In the test, a child is told about how Sally has this beautiful marble that she cherishes and decides to hide her basket. She then leaves the room to go for a walk. While Sally is away, Anne sneaks the marble out of Sally’s basket and places it in her own box. After a while, Sally returns to the room.
The child is then asked where would Sally look for her marble.
According to Spectrum News, 88 percent of children with ASD tendencies would respond “Anne’s box,” theoretically seeing these two characters from one perception.
“We’re all just so different I think one size doesn’t fit all,” Symons said. ” You’ve got to really learn to know yourself. I know it’s easier said than done, (it’s) definitely worth it to know yourself well enough to assess what’s going to be hard for you.”
Autism Speaks confirms that one out of 42 boys, and one out of 182 girls are diagnosed ASD within the United States. These statistics have increased by 40 percent in the last 60 years. However, this raw data cannot conclude whether there is an increased probability of having ASD or an increase in number of diagnosis.
“Diagnostical and statistical manual (guidelines) criteria has changed. That’s one reason why we’re seeing more individuals diagnosed (with ASD),” Mitchell said.
Once established, Autism Speaks provides a detailed gauge known as the DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria Spectrum which is used to accurately attempt to understand the individuals strengths and weaknesses. There are three stages of “severity level.”
Level one is the minor stage that observes an individual’s lack of social interactions, planning, organization or difficulty adapting to unpredictable situations.
Level two is an increase in the above impairments and issues in verbal and nonverbal communication abilities. Higher outputs of distress and issues coping with changes.
Level three is in the top severity scale in communication skills, minimal interactions, extreme output behavior and extreme difficulty understanding or managing a situation.
“Sometimes students on the spectrum, with Autism, need … a little more direct instruction in the area of communication, and helping them understand and process language,” said Aleksandra Hollingshead, a UI faculty member with a doctorate in Special Education.
On campus, students with ASD are supported by the Raven Scholars Program, whose mission is to help provide a successful academic experience.
“(The) program supports a smooth transition to the university setting, providing … life and organizational skills that are useful in order to be successful in higher education,” said Elizabeth Miles, the Raven Scholars manager.
Symons was in the Raven’s Program while he attended school. He himself became a mentor for the program.
“I went through the training and reversed it, and wanted to give everyone else the help I received,” Symons said.
The Raven Scholars program has a strong community and helps peers gain experience over time, for staff and students. Miles said students interested can apply to become a mentor. The program is certified by the College Reading and Learning Association to train level one singularity students in supporting people on the Autism Spectrum.
“We can all improve ourselves,” Symons said. “It’s definitely true that there is no shame in getting help, despite what all those crazy bullies told you in middle school. You’re not stupid if you’re in special education. You’re not dumb … to try to get extra help. Especially in college you got to be patient sometimes things don’t happen as fast as you would like.”
People with this condition are often misunderstood. Psychologists can more accurately understand outward action from an ASD person, but what’s happening on the inside is still a mystery.
“There is a lot of misunderstanding about what autism is, and many people on the spectrum are stereotyped, stigmatized and excluded,” Miles said.
There is another, altruistic way to approach ASD. Some individuals with ASD have almost superhuman hearing sensitivity known as Auditory Sensory Hearing. Others are incredible singers, prodigy mathematicians or motivational speakers.
“Our program students are incredibly talented, altruistic and engaged, and they have significant contributions to make to society,” Miles said. “Neurodiversity is a form of diversity that enriches society.”
Linda Smith
I am a newly diagnosed Autistic Adult, diagnosed at age 58. I agree with everything Julie Brant said. No one asks us what's going on inside. If you ask, we will tell you. I knew I was autistic from the tons of research I did and then went for a formal diagnosis so my family wouldn't say I was just being a hypochondriac. I've heard: "you're so sensitive", "why do you cry so much", "geek", "weirdo", "quirky" my whole life. I was a quiet, shy girl and was able to "pass as normal" so no one bothered to medically diagnose me. But, I'm happy I found out I am neurodivergent. Now I understand my awkward childhood and why I couldn't make friends like everyone else.
Julie brant
I'm an autistic adult. I would consider myself level two for most of my life, performing as a level one in public and recovering in private. I hit autistic burnout two years ago. For the first year of burnout I regressed. I probably wouldve been considered a level one at that time and easily obtained a diagnosis which I'd never been able to get referred for a test before because of the lack of knowledge in my area on how autism represents and because I had learned to perform to blend in. I'm still homebound and in my second year of recovery, however I would consider myself more in the level 2 range again. I'm able to do basic care skills again and am now successful at tasks involving 1 and sometimes two steps. A long way from myself before still where I worked full time and earned our homes main income. I dont have the energy to look like a level one to even fit in. The pressures of workplaces to really push team building in the workplace pushed me out of a teaching career and then eventually out of running my own business when forced to participate in team building activities to receive bonuses I earned. You say you dont know what's happening inside. Ask me. I keep seeing articles like this and I think....you have an entire adult autistic community you can ask. We are verbal and we get it. I've written tons of places like this and not one has written me and asked my opinion. Shoot I could get answers for you from a whole network of autistic adults. We spent our lifetimes learning you and how to maneuver your world. The only direction most of us got was negative feedback...which we used to adapt to make you more comfortable with us. However, many of us are now fighting to find ourselves we lost long ago. Living without an identity is not easy. However, you write things like what's going on inside is a mystery? I'm here, I'm aitistic, and it's not a mystery. To me, you are the mystery. I've been studying nt behavior my whole life and it feels very ego driven and harsh to me. Still no one can explain why. Does that mean that what goes on in an nt mind is a mystery? I'm here. I can and will tell you what goes on in my mind as will many other autistics. We NEED to be included in this. A lot of us need jobs because we honestly have burned out on the social expectations of the world and need to find a way to support ourselves (check out statistics on our suicide rates and homelessness rates from this). And......we have many, many of your answers. Again, this is a situation where I just dont understand neurotypicals. This feels so obvious to me. I feel like you all always take the long way around everything. It's funny because when I was in the workforce problems would be posed and I'd state a solution and get laughed at or ignored. At later meetings it would eventually be announced that they were using my solution but the credit given to the same people who laughed or ignored. For example: I just want everyone to take time to recognize so and so. We went through many trial and error and settled on _______. I would sit there pissed off and dumbstruck. It was exactly my proposal. Story of my life. This situation is not uncommon amongst my autistic friends. We have tons of stories. It also cracks me up that the same math I figured out back in high school I used to get kicked out of class for, told i was doing it the wrong way, or outright that i was insubordinate. When i started teaching all the curriculums had been changed to what i had been doing in high school. It's just more logical and builds upon understanding better. It allows you to use what you know to break things down to figure out what you dont know. It's all about connections. So while I'm offering to give you insights i would also appreciate a straight up answer about why neurotypicals tend to take the long way around things. I'm not expecting a response because no one has ever given me one. During my regression I even struggled with toilet use....so yes I know what goes on inside and my regression allowed me to remember more of my experiences as a child before I developed my skills (others seemed incapable of really understanding me and helping with this with me screaming...no that's not it! But yet.....you all want to research kids who dont yet have the insight or look at cause and effects to figure out what's inside. You have a straight path. We are here, we exist, we want a voice. Please give it to us. Include us in your papers. Consult us before you write these. Poll us. I know so much more about the many presentations of autism and what's going on inside because I am one, know others and I ask tons of questions. I also believe you would be shocked at the amount of research our community does. We could put you light years ahead yet the long way around seems to be the nt thing to do.