{"id":9945,"date":"2019-04-11T15:35:42","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T23:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=9945"},"modified":"2019-04-11T15:35:42","modified_gmt":"2019-04-11T23:35:42","slug":"autism-acceptance-month-student-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/autism-acceptance-month-student-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Autism Acceptance Month: Student stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bailey Thompson<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

April is Autism Acceptance\/Awareness Month, a time each year when people with autism share their stories in order to spread both awareness and acceptance of autism \u2014 a condition that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 59 people has. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the American Psychiatric Association, \u201cAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition that involves persistent challenges in social interaction, speech and nonverbal communication and restricted\/repetitive behaviors.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

In order to learn more about autism, I spoke with a number of Western students with autism who shared their stories with me.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Katie:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Katie, who wasn\u2019t diagnosed with autism until age 20, is a firm believer in the need for further research about autism. Since Katie\u2019s autism was not recognized because she did not exhibit certain signs of autism \u2014 many of which are more stereotypical in males with autism \u2014 she is an advocate for people with autism who may not fall into this narrow mold.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAutism in general is not very well researched, and it\u2019s definitely not very well researched in anyone who isn\u2019t a straight, white male,\u201d Katie said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having also researched the intersection between autism and LGBTQ identities, Katie explained that sex education is often inferior for people with autism because they are erroneously not thought of as sexual beings; this problem is added onto by the fact that LGBTQ sex education is rarely taught as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Katie also described the social and stimulatory challenges she faces because of her autism.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery 10 minutes I\u2019m outside without earplugs, it means 30 minutes of wanting to nap,\u201d said Katie. \u201cIt\u2019s the lights and sounds and there\u2019s a lot of leaf blowers outside. Then, there\u2019s lots of people talking, cars going by \u2014 it\u2019s a lot all the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In her view, people\u2019s outlook on autism is often too negative, also.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAutism is not a fate worse than death, I swear. I actually like how autism affects me most of the time,\u201d said Katie. \u201cYeah, it does suck sometimes\u2026 but it allows me to focus on things for a long time and it allows me to do things that most other people might consider boring or repetitive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Katie then imparted a final piece of wisdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we listen to folks who have different perspectives, it makes our society better,\u201d said Katie.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kevin:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After earning his AAOT degree, Kevin transferred to Western with the goal of majoring in visual communication design. And, while there have been some challenges in getting to graduation, he has utilized the resources around him in order to be successful. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got in touch with disability services to get accommodations that would be best for my learning experiences,\u201d said Kevin. \u201cThey really do come in handy, especially when you\u2019re doing exams or quizzes. Those guys can really come in handy whether it\u2019s at a university or a community college.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the fact that things like speaking and maintaining eye contact can be difficult for him, Kevin knows that having autism is an important part of who he is.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving autism is just part of life; there\u2019s nothing really you can do,\u201d said Kevin. \u201cIt\u2019s not like being cancer-free. It just sticks with you for your entire life. Being autism-free would kind of take away your memories. If you do that, then I\u2019ve forgotten who I was.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Something that Kevin has found joy in is competitive swimming, an activity his mom originally signed him up with to help him with his autism.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Western, one thing that has made him feel empowered having some people go out of their way to support people with disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know one of the members of the disabilities club is just an ally,\u201d said Kevin. \u201cShe just likes being there to help students with disabilities in this club.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, while some of the other students preferred the term acceptance, Kevin has a positive association with the original wording.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI like awareness more,\u201d said Kevin. \u201cAutism Awareness Month is a strong phrase for autistic people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lyvonne:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lyvonne is a non-traditional student at Western who went back to school after getting married and having a family. As a mom to a son who also has autism, Lyvonne is passionate about fighting for acceptance in the world that her son is growing up in.<\/span><\/p>\n

While people can sometimes be quick to devalue skills of people with autism, Lyvonne described a few of the ways she has seen autism in a positive light.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAutism to me is like having a super power,\u201d said Lyvonne. \u201cMy autism makes me hyper-aware of what other people are doing around me. It also causes me to be hyper-focused on my school work and incredibly grades driven, which can cause me to put a lot of undue stress on myself. But my autism also lets me really get into my favorite books, movies or television shows.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One such example that Lyvonne has observed in her son is that, even though he is only seven, he is already studying algebra. <\/span><\/p>\n

One thing that Lyvonne wished people knew about autism was that it is a fluid spectrum, not a static one \u2014 meaning some days are easier than others. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are days where I can make a speech in front of a classroom full of people I don\u2019t know, and then there are days where I can\u2019t even make eye contact with my physician at a checkup,\u201d said Lyvonne. <\/span><\/p>\n

With this in mind, Lyvonne has a clear hope for the future: acceptance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>People are aware that those with autism exist; what many fail to think about is how many situations push us out to the fringes of society,\u201d said Lyvonne. \u201cPeople are aware of our existence, but they don\u2019t accept us in so many ways.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Striving to combat the narrative that her son will be a drain on society or that employers will be unwilling to hire her due to her autism, Lyvonne explains that awareness isn\u2019t enough. Acceptance is the vital next step that we need to take as a society.<\/span><\/p>\n

[fruitful_alert type=”alert-info”]Editor\u2019s note: Last names were kept private at the request of some of the students interviewed.<\/span>[\/fruitful_alert]<\/p>\n

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bailey Thompson | News Editor April is Autism Acceptance\/Awareness Month, a time each year when people with autism share their stories in order to spread both awareness and acceptance of autism \u2014 a condition that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 59 people has. According to the American Psychiatric Association, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":9949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"modified_by":"The Western Howl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}