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Personal Account (Readers' Discretion Advised)

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Personal Account (Readers' Discretion Advised)

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Hi, I'm Anna. I work with children who have autism (and Down Syndrome, but that's a different story), ranging from low to high functioning, mute to extremely verbal. My little brother, Christopher, also has autism, and will be entering Dake Jr. High in the fall. These children I work with - and my brother - are some of the brightest, sweetest, most amazing individuals I have ever met in my entire life. They're compassionate and hard-working and just .. wow. I'm so so lucky to spend time with them all.
However, that's not the entirety of the point I'd like to make right now. The school district wants to take away my brother's counseling for next year because "Oh, he's doing fine." This is completely unprofessional to be writing about, nor is it entirely my business, but I'm fuming and crave for attention to be brought to this issue. My English teacher, the lovely Miss Samantha Gasser, brought this project to my attention, and I automatically knew I wanted to focus on mental health, hoping somebody of relative importance, aside form her, would see it. Maybe this Padlet will be left to rot, forgotten and unseen, for ages to come. Perhaps not, though - and I can certainly hope not.
My brother is high-functioning, and has made great strides in overcoming some "roadblocks" in his way. As a younger child, he would have to bring shooting range headphones to the 4th of July parade down Titus Ave. because the loud noises were far too much for his sensitive ears; when my mother and I would make sarcastic comments to each other, he would often become frightened that we were serious, occasionally leading to tears. (Ex: Me playing a joke on my mother and her - joking - reply being "Oh, I'm gonna kill you!" as she laughed. My brother would in turn, plead to not hurt me and break down crying until we explained that it was just a joke). HE now understands sarcasm better and isn't as sensitive to loud noises, but still struggles with social cues at times. He is transitioning to an entire new school, in a brand new location, with double the people in his grade - half of whom he's never met before in his life - and is going to no longer spend three periods in the same classroom, instead spending, maximum, one and a half. He is going to have to adjust to a bell system dismissing him roughly hour by hour, as well as navigation, remembering where to go on which days independently, and so much sensory overload that I'll be worrying for him day in and day out, mostly due to my own anxieties, but I digress.
Do not - I repeat, do NOT - allow them to take counseling away from my brother. He needs support during this transitional phase in his life, perhaps more so than when he made the leap from Brookview Elementary to Rogers Middle School. I will fight vehemently for this until the day my family and I get a verbal and handwritten guarantee that the counseling will remain in place for him - and perhaps not even ceasing then if the agreements fall through. This is more important to me than getting into trouble for an including an "inappropriate" or "personal" topic in this paper, and I don't care what it takes. Help my brother. Do not fall victim to the "high - functioning individuals are all just fine and need no aid!" conspiracy.
Do what is right, West Irondequoit. I implore you.

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Strike Back Martial Arts offers programs in Adult and Junior Jujitsu, Functional Self-Protection, Law Enforcement Training and programs for kids on the Autism Spectrum.

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As I mentioned in my first account, I work with children all over the autism spectrum. I teach them self defense and help work on their social, fine motor, and verbal communication abilities.  These children are among the kindest, most dedicated individuals I've ever met in my entire life.
Kids with autism are oftentimes passed over post-diagnosis, just labelled as "retards" or "lost causes" who are just going to be that way forever, with no way to help. Integrating these children into society - and programs like Jujitsu Buddies at Strike Back Martial Arts (where I work), and many opportunities given through AutismUp, we can help them take control of their lives; the lives deemed unimportant or "wasted" by so many others who just don't understand. It's truly a shame. I've seen kids go from nearly mute and closed off, terrified, to verbal with their friends, interacting with me and my coworkers, happy to be there. It's the most rewarding thing in the world to be able to say you've helped a child break out of their shell and seen their evolution. Doctor after doctor, school year after school year, their one constant is, well, you. When I had dance rehearsals for the musical on Saturday mornings when classes were held, they asked where I was and my heart shattered in disappointment that I couldn't be there for/with them. Knowing that you've made a difference and are cared about .. wow. It makes a world of difference in life. I love these kids - and I always will.

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autism support services rochester new york ny golisano autism center autism programs adult autism family autismup best autism classes transition disability autism employment

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Autism is defined as "a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts." It is common, with over 200,000 diagnosed individuals in the US every year.
A few symptoms include :
- Difficulty in communication
- Obsessive interests
- Tics
- Sensitivity to sound
Individuals fall on a "spectrum" of functionality (hence, autism spectrum). There are two extremes - low and high functioning. Low functioning individuals may be mute or have little speaking ability, have less understanding of social cues compared to high functioning individuals, and may have a visually / aurally obviousness in their "disability".

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I presented willingly participating individuals (the names of which will be kept private, only represented by a single letter) with a series of questions..
1) What does autism mean to you?
H: "Autism means a mental illness/disorder that affects a lot of lives in the world in a lot of different ways. It affects everyone differently."
K: "Well it's a mental condition. To me it's something you just have to deal with but first comes to mind is it sucks."
N: "My brother has autism so I don't know, when I think of autism I think of him."
J: " Autism just means that an individual has an enhanced sense of surroundings and a delayed sense of expression."
AM: "I'm honestly unsure of how to answer this question so I'm just [not going to].
A: "To me, autism makes an individual more remarkable."
2) What's a stigma around autism you wish to debunk?
H: "A stigma is that people just don't understand autism. [It's] not just low functioning people who are nonverbal, [it's] more than that."
K: "That people with autism are weird or should / need to be treated any differently than anyone else."
N: "That people with autism are stupid."
J: "I wish people would stop assuming that people with autism are stupid, like they're just as smart as you are, if not smarter. They notice the same things and are affected the same ways."
AM: "One stigma around autism I wish to debunk is that not everyone who is autistic shraes the same situations! For example, my brother who experiences autism, many do not realize it! He doesn't have the stereotypes many picture autism has. He's very similar to you and me, but has many of the tendencies found in autism."
A: "That all autism is the same and that there isn't a spectrum."
3) In your experience,  what have you seen in (an) autistic individual(s) that you wish more people knew?
H: "Autistic people are amazingly smart and more people should know."
K : "Well um .. [laughs] I am autistic. When I was born, all three other kids born at the same hospital I was later developed different types of the spectrum. I ended up being the most functional with only having what's now classified as 'regular autism'. But for how I act or what's seen when I was younger everything would bother me or overwhelm me from the stitching in socks to the material of shirts. I always had to wear 100% cotton shirts etc. I actually ended up being diagnosed with anorexia at six when I only ate gogurt and lettuce. But again; I also technically have a few different conditions that aren't typical or usually for autistic people .. kids especially. [Laughs] But I mean .. now it's better, like clothing and food don't bother me but at times I'll start 'reverting back' and I end up having massive panic attacks or breakdowns."
N: "They can act out sometimes and it's difficult on the families and the people who take care of them at school, so people should be respectful."
J: "There's certain ways you learn to communicate without words and it's not that hard to pick up on? If that makes sense."
AM: "I again wish that people knew not all people with autism share the same situations. I also think people should know that one common part of autism is having addictive tendencies. My brother gets very easily addicted to different things, and most of them are related to the same subject. I also know someone from school who experiences the same tendency of 'addictiveness' with autism. In some cases it's not just 'addictiveness', it's obsessiveness, and it's very common!"
A: "The autistic individuals I have met are the most appreciative people I have ever met. They are always eager to learn and love getting to know others."
4) Do you think there's enough autism representation in the media?
H: "No [there's] not enough.
K: "No. The closest thing I've seen was the Netflix original 'Atypical' and well .. I watched it but it was great and showed what it was like. But it was almost too real. Like watching it for me kinda made me feel like more of a burden for being autistic."
N: "I don't know, I don't really pay attention."
J: "NOOOOOO. There's literally none, if any, that I feel accurately represent autism as a whole, like there's shows like 'The Good Doctor' where the main character is autistic, but that only shows a slim, pleasant part of the spectrum when there's deeper, more difficult parts that no one with that kind of autism can effectively explain, and that anyone without experience with autistic people can chalk up to as more than just 'because they're autistic'. And to add onto that, there is a disappointingly slim amount of authentic representation, as in real autistic individuals playing autistic characters, and it's borderline insulting for anyone to be represented by someone who doesn't accurately represent them."
AM: "I don't think there's much representation on autism in the media! If there is, I typically see it as glamorizing autism. For example, posts with captions as 'aww shes so cute' under an image of anyone with autism. I also find this kind of strange as it'  almost like they're looking at people with autism like they look at puppies .."
A: "I don't think there's enough autism representation in the media but there are more movies and shows opening up the idea of looking into the lives with/of people with autism."
5 Thoughts on Autism Speaks?
H: "Autism doesn't need to be cured so I don;t agree with Autism Speaks. I think they should use their power to show autism isn't a bad thing and that it shouldn't be looked down upon."
K: "I heard about it but I ultimately feel as though it's meant as a coping source for the family, not the person with autism."
N: "I think that autism comes in a lot of different forms. Some kids can't talk, others can; some can read, others can't. And people should look at things case by case, it's not one size fits all, if that makes any sense."
J: "Autism Speaks [SUCKS] They have no autistic individuals on their board or employed at all in decision making. They have a goal of 'curing' autism, which is not only insulting, but problematic as [heck] because autism isn't a disease, but a condition and this just simply further enforced b=the sentiment that autistic people need to be fixed or aren't okay. Only 4% of their funding goes to helping actual autistic kids and people they spend millions on internal funding (i.e.: paying their CEOs). They've spent millions trying to make a connection between autism and vaccines, which has zero medical authenticity according to vast medical professionals and has caused a craze of ignorant and uneducated mothers and fathers to go without vaccinating their children, which has then led to weak, sickly children and outbreaks of diseases that were all but extinct because of vaccines such as small pox which, I may remind you, wiped out 1/3 of the population in Europe ..
Also they advertise how much of a burden autistic children are on parents which is such a [crappy] message to send to those children."
AM: "I don't support Autism Speaks!! Their overall goal is to end autism' and I don't think that's a way people should be spending their money and funds! An organization like Autism Speaks should just be to help people with autism (as there's nothing wrong with them) by raising money for them and fighting social injustices against people with autism."
A: "I don't know a lot about Autism Speaks but if they are helping families and individuals with autism then it's great."

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Noted autism organization "Autism Speaks" has come under fire for comments made stating that autism was "curable or in need of curing. The truth is that autism is a complex neurobiological condition lying on a spectrum. There is no cure, there is no need for a cure, and, even if there was, it is improbable to find a "cure" for such spectrum-wide types of individuals. Autism Speaks also holds a bureaucratic, fear-mongering reputation, severely mishandling funds. Only 4% of funds actually go towards aid to autistic individuals.

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Dustin Hoffman as : Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man (1988). Not the most accurate portrayal of all time, it certainly is among the most high profile ones. Though over-dramatized at times, there were some fairly accurate depictions of autism throughout the movie, such as Raymond's adherence to routine and sensory sensibilities. His brother, Charlie, however, was prone to outburst and it was disappointing to many that the proper way to approach situations with autistic individuals. It should also be noted that the brothers' developing bond should not be seen as Raymond "overcoming" his autism, but as a relationship built because of his autism.
Mary McDonnell as : Dr. Virginia Dixon in Grey's Anatomy (2009).
Displaying stereotypical autistic personality traits, Dr. Dixon appears "heartless" at times, being a world class heart surgeon. She is ritualistic and makes decisions purely based on cost-benefit analysis, leaving all emotional aspects out of the equation. Her actions provide a negative view of autistic individuals, as well as perpetuating stereotypical myths surrounding them. She has a breakdown of sorts and relies on pressure stimulation to calm her down, which, honestly, demeaned the importance of rituals to many on the spectrum and over - dramatized what happens when deviating from said routines. A high functioning adult on the spectrum would most likely be able to avoid a public, overacted breakdown, but, of course, the media doesn't know these things. "Aspies" and autistic individuals are just overreacting control freaks who need routine or else they'll explode and have the emotional range of a teaspoon in their eyes.
As I went on to research this, I was disappointed when even the Wikipedia list of autistic fictional characters in media had to differentiate the terms "autism" and "high-functioning autism" as if they're separate diagnoses or things in general. With autism, one can be functioning anywhere on the spectrum, from high to low. Most characters seen in the media, such as Shaun Murphy from "The Good Doctor" are savants, meaning they have a mental disability, yet also possess certain abilities or talents far above average. Why are the only autistic individuals being represented high - functioning or savants? They're certainly valid, make no mistake about that, but why aren't low - functioning individuals represented in such a way? Are they not valid as well? Are they not eye-catching or important enough for popular media? A shame, truly, that even in this day and age, many are not being represented and, when they are, they're being represented by people who don't even align with what they are/what they have.