Clark\nBaranoski<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ENGL\n384<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr.\nFoss<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2\nMay 2019 \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tThroughout\nthe years, autism has usually been viewed as a negative thing, a\ndisorder that should be fixed and one that wrecks the lives of\ncaregivers and families. Especially with nonverbal or nonspeaking\nindividuals, outsiders often view them as somehow lost or trapped in\ntheir own bodies, or they assume that, because the autistic\nindividual is not speaking their thoughts, they do not have complex\nthoughts to begin with. Several of our readings have proven this\nwrong and should be read by everybody with that mindset. Two readings\nthat particularly drive the message home that autism is not some sort\nof tragedy that should try to be cured are Jim Sinclair\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t\nMourn for Us\u201d and \u201cCultural Commentary: Communicate with Me\u201d by\nDJ Savarese. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tSo\noften, the focus on autism discussions is how hard it is for parents\nand other outsiders to deal with autistic individuals. While there\nare challenges for parents, such as the fact it is most likely very\nfrustrating and upsetting for a parent who may not be able to calm\ntheir autistic child down, or may not know what their child wants,\nwhatever challenge there is for the parent is undoubtedly not as\nimportant as the child\u2019s. For example, if a crowded place like the\nmall is overstimulating with bright lights, loud noises and too many\npeople, the child may experience sensory overload to the point where\nthe environment is actually painful to be in. A trip to the mall\nwould certainly be stressful for the child who is overstimulated, but\nmost people would probably sympathize with the parent for having to\ndeal with the effects of the child\u2019s sensory overload, such as\nscreaming or trying to run out of the mall, rather than consider how\nmuch of a horrible experience it is for the child. To non-autistic\npeople, the child\u2019s reaction seems like an overreaction because they\nare not bombarded with sensory stimuli like the child is and do not\nsee how a trip to the mall could be so overwhelming and distressing.\nMany people who may not know about autism might think the child is\nsimply being a brat for screaming. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tWhile\naspects such as sensory difficulties may make some aspects of life\nhard, one should not grieve the autistic individual\u2019s existence or\ntheir autism. As Sinclair eloquently puts it, \u201ccontinuing\nfocus on the child\u2019s autism as a source of grief is damaging for both\nthe parents and the child, and precludes the development of an\naccepting and authentic relationship between them\u201d (Sinclair,\nn.p.). Autism is typically viewed as a huge game-changer, and while\nSinclair admits that there is grief over learning one\u2019s child will\nnot be what who the parents thought their child would be, no parent\nin the world can predict their child, autism or not. Some parents\nmourn autistic children because they are not the non-autistic child\nthey envisioned (Sinclair, n.p.). But very few parents get the child\nthey envisioned or fantasized about. Even if their child is not\nautistic, they could still turn out quite different from the parent\u2019s\nexpectations, such as active, sport-loving parents having a child who\nwould rather sit inside and play video games or bibliophile parents\nhaving a child who will not willingly read a book. This is the same\nscenario in that their child is not who they expected and they may\nwonder how they will connect with their child who seems so different\nfrom them, yet an autism diagnosis is viewed as a tragedy. Yet a\nbook-loving parent could think they may not be able to connect with\ntheir autistic child, only to find out their autistic child also\nloves books and they could connect through reading. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tDJ\nSavarese offers a look into his mind that shows that he is aware and\neager to connect with others despite outward appearances. When he\ndoes not greet people directly, it may appear he is not interested in\npeople. This is hardly the case. Savarese does not greet people\ndirectly because it would be far too overwhelming to do so (Savarese,\nn.p.). It may appear to outsiders that Savarese, and other\nindividuals on the autism spectrum, is not interested in other\npeople, but he quite clearly is. He wants to make friends and get to\nknow people, but the way he does so is a little different. To an\noutsider, it may look like his facilitator is guiding the pencil or\nhis hand when he types, which could lead people to the assumption\nthat Savarese is not the one typing at all and that his facilitator\nis communicating for him (Savarese, n.p.). Savarese\u2019s perspective\nmade me think of the autistic children I volunteered with at a summer\nreading camp a few years ago. Most were nonspeaking and communicated,\nlike Savarese, by spelling out words on letter boards or typing. It\noften seemed like they were not listening to the middle-grade books\nwe were reading out loud, because they were flipping through other\nbooks or off in the corner looking at photo cards. Yet when we asked\na question about the book we were reading, they more often than not\nanswered correctly, which proved they were listening the whole time.\nThis helps prove Savarese\u2019s point that autistic people are aware of\nwhat is going on around them, even if other people might not think\nthey are aware or paying attention. The children I volunteered with\ncould answer questions about how the characters were feeling, putting\nthemselves in the character\u2019s shoes and disproving the whole theory\nthat autistic individuals lack a theory of mind. DJ Savarese also\ntalks about how he may not hear people at certain times which is why\nhe does not respond, and he may take a while before he can show he\nnotices somebody (Savarese, n.p.) This helps show that autistic\nindividuals are not merely ignoring others as some people think.\nSurprisingly, Savarese also tells the reader to ignore his body,\nincluding signs for \u201cdone\u201d and \u201cbreak\u201d, when it seems\ncounterintuitive. This may be quite true in Savarese\u2019s case, but it\ncould lead to people ignoring other autistic people when they\nindicate they need a break. If someone ignores the sign for \u201cbreak\u201d,\nthen when the child really needs a break, they may be ignored like\nthe boy who cried wolf. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tThese\narticles show that autistic people experience life in a different,\nunexpected way, and while some aspects are more overwhelming for some\nautistic individuals, their lives are just as fulfilling and complete\nas their typical friends and family. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Word\nCount: 1084<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nhereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor\nreceived unauthorized help on this work. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clark\nBaranoski<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Works\nCited<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Savarese,\nDJ. \u201cCommunicate with Me.\u201d\u00a0Disability\nStudies Quarterly<\/em>,\n2010, www.dsq-sds.org\/article\/view\/1051\/1237<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinclair,\nJim. \u201cDon\u2019t Mourn For Us.\u201d Our\nVoice, <\/em>vol.\n1, 1993. \n<\/em>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Clark Baranoski ENGL 384 Dr. Foss 2 May 2019 Throughout the years, autism has usually been viewed as a negative thing, a disorder that should be fixed and one that wrecks the lives of caregivers and families. Especially with nonverbal or nonspeaking individuals, outsiders often view them as somehow lost or trapped in their own … Continue reading “Clark Baranoski’s Final”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[85,88,90],"class_list":["post-1535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-take-home-final-examinations","tag-final-exam","tag-final-exam-autism","tag-section-1"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papJgd-oL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1536,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions\/1536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.chris-foss.net\/dislit19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}