There
is a reason autism is described as a spectrum of disorders. No two people with autism are exactly
alike. Similarly, not every treatment
for autism works for every person on the spectrum. Finding a method that works for each
individual is a trial and error process that every parent, child, and adult
living with autism has to go through in order to change, advance, and
grow. A good way to explain this concept
is to take a person with an obvious disability and describe the similarities and
differences between how we treat that person, and how we treat a person with
autism.
For
example, when a child is born without the ability to hear, we notice this
disability very early on in the child’s life.
It is easy for us, as parents, to see when a child is not hearing sounds
properly. Additionally, simple pediatric
tests can tell us instantly if an infant is responding to sounds or not. As a society, we have determined that there
is usually nothing wrong with these people, except for the fact that they are
hearing impaired. In order to
accommodate our hearing impaired population, we have developed a visual language
(ASL) to teach these children. We also have written language for them to
utilize as well as services tailored to all those who cannot hear in the same
way as the typical person hears the world.
This disability is easy to treat because there is one noticeable issue to
navigate around in order to help these people “find a voice” and fit into
society comfortably, successfully, and as if they were no different from a
person with the ability to hear.
On
the other hand, when a child is born with autism there are usually no obvious
signs at birth. The disability is in the
brain, and we cannot see what that disability is by looking at the child. There are currently no accurate tests to
determine if a child is autistic or not.
Furthermore, it takes years for us to see the beginnings of language or
social difficulties. Complicating things
further, each child on the spectrum has varying degrees of abilities and
disabilities. In terms of awareness, the
average person knows very little about autism.
Generally, there are many misconceptions and stigmas attached to the
word autism. This disability is very
difficult to treat because there are many noticeable symptoms, while the actual
problem is hidden inside the brain. We
can only treat the symptoms and not the actual disorder in the brain at this time. It is not very easy to help a person with
autism fit into society comfortably and successfully, however, it is not
impossible.
Instead
of seeking out a “cure” or a universal treatment for autism, we need to develop
a method of assessment that incorporates all that we know about autism today and
matches the best treatments to each individual person. For instance, some children are non-verbal
and respond well to sign language.
Others do not respond to verbal or visual language but excel at typing
on the computer as their main method of communication. Still others may not respond to written
language, and a pictorial or a tactile way of communicating can be
attempted. As a whole, we need to think
outside of the box and discover ways to get through to our autistic community
so that they too can “find a voice” and fit into society as if there was
nothing different about them at all.
Finally, I like to
think of autism as a culture in itself.
Every culture has its rules, and yet no two people in society are alike.
The culture rules of autism are the symptoms we see, while the typical
culture’s rules come out in the ways we try to fix those symptoms. Naturally, we want the person on the spectrum
to conform to our way of thinking and behaving.
Alternatively, if the typical culture stops trying to fix symptoms and
instead increases awareness, communication, and understanding of why those
symptoms exist, the symptoms will lessen and possibly even disappear completely
over time. My point is that autism should be incorporated and accepted into our
culture rather than “cured” out of it.
Jaclyn Hunt is a Life Coach specializing in the Autism and
Special Needs Population. She works with adults on the spectrum, parents of
autistic children and adults, spouses of adults on the spectrum, and anyone
affected by autism or other related special needs. Visit her website to learn more:
Twitter: @asnlifecoach
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AutismAndSpecialNeedsLifeCoach