MORE FROM AUTHOR, WILLIAM STILLMAN... : )

[Guest guest]

_Autism: A New Cultural Competency_

(mip://023f2948/mind-and-body/autism-a-new-cultural-competency.html)

Stillman is a nationally recognized autism self-advocate, speaker,

and author of numerous special needs parenting books including _Demystifying

the Autistic Experience_

(http://www.amazon.com/Demystifying-Autistic-Experience-Humanistic-Introduction/\

dp/1843107260/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1208298

120 & sr=1-8) , _The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Asperger's

Syndrome_

(http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Parents-Children-Aspergers-Syndrome/dp/1593371\

535/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1208298120 & sr=1-4) , _Autism and

the God Connection, _

(http://www.amazon.com/Autism-God-Connection--Stillman/dp/1402206496/ref=\

sr_1_2?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1208298120 & sr=1-2) and _The

Soul of Autism_

(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1601630050/basilandspice-20) . Stillman

has advocated for persons with different ways of being

since 1987, and he serves on several advisory boards including Autism National

Committee. He also writes columns for _The Autism Perspective _

(http://www.theautismperspective.org/) and Children of the New Earth magazines.

In his

work, Stillman seeks to passionately transform perceptions of autism from those

defined as " afflicted sufferers " to those with valuable gifts to offer the

world. His Web site is _www.williamstillman.com_

(http://www.williamstillman.com/) .

Stillman--

As an adult on the autism spectrum, it is with frustrating frequency that I

grapple with the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of my words and

deeds; some, it seems, always rush to judgment and presume the worst in me when

the exact opposite is true: I usually act out of consideration and selflessness

in deference of others. It is this near-daily confluence (or clash) of

ideals that can be absolutely maddening to me. And because of my

forthrightness,

it is a similar mindset that spurs my inability to reconcile disingenuous,

duplicitous or deceptive behavior in others. I say what I mean, and mean what I

say—shouldn’t everyone do the same?

So, in recent weeks, when I’ve seen national news stories about children

with autism being excluded from church, removed from airplanes, and kicked out

of restaurants for “autistic behavior,†I presume—not the worst—but a

conflict in neurodiversity, a lack of autism cultural competency, at the root

of

such incidents. This culminated perhaps most succinctly when it was brought to

my attention that a radio talk show host referred to autism as a hoax, a

fraudulent excuse for bad parenting, and concluded that children with autism

are “

brats†and “idiots.â€

You can only know what you know—until you know better, or differently. And

ignorance need not hold negative connotations if one endeavors a greater

appreciation and respect. Autism is oftentimes an invisible disability, meaning,

many of us get by, blend, and “pass†for normal because there’s nothing

particularly telling about our outward appearance at first glance. It is obvious

when someone is physically compromised because they are blind, deaf, or use a

wheelchair—it’s visible and tangible, and, in observation, we are more

likely to make compassionate accommodations. So when a child melts down in the

middle of the mall, screaming and thrashing, it may not be unreasonable that

the

average layperson leap to conclusions not unlike the radio talk show host.

Here’s where autism cultural competency comes into play. A grossly

overlooked and disregarded nuance of the autistic experience is the acute,

overwhelming, and oftentimes painful sensory sensitivities experienced by the

vast

majority of autistics. For example, I filter out nothing and absorb everything

around me, just like a sponge. There’s very little that escapes my attention,

from the distant cries of an uncomfortable infant to the whirring of an

overhead ventilation system to the sudden shock of a nearby stranger’s cell

phone

setting off. It can be exhausting to endure. Most neuro-typical or average

persons automatically and naturally discard such superfluous sensory

information

and are unbothered by it. However, I can appreciate how the autistic child

could overreact to a shrill church choir or pipe-organ ballistics; the blaring

aircraft intercom that makes you want to jump out of your skin, though you

must remain restrained in your seat; or the cacophony of voices, clattering

cutlery, and swell of food aromas in a neighborhood restaurant.

The obvious response to such sensory sensitivities to is compel someone,

through myriad means (like force), to be less sensitive; to “snap out of

itâ€

and conjoin with the real world. My reply is to suggest, “What do you think

I’

m doing every time I step outside my front door?†The world hurts. Yet I

don’

t want to be less sensitive than I am. It serves me in my work as a

consultant specializing in interpreting autistic hieroglyphics. Whereas

neuro-typical

professionals require hours of data collection, assessments, and observation

time, I need ten minutes or less in the presence of the autistic one to know

precisely how to counsel his parents and educators in autism cultural

competency; that is, fostering an appreciation for the autistic experience from

the

inside out. Oftentimes, I can intuit this information simply from looking at

the child’s photograph—now that’s sensitive. My intuition never fails me.

And I wouldn’t want it weaned out of me either. It has value and purpose.

Understanding autism cultural competency includes making compassionate

accommodations when and where possible in consideration of someone’s sensory

sensitivities. This requires not only awareness but compromise. I know of

parents

who insist that their children with autism go to Disney World though each

child clearly protests while there—further stigmatizing others’ perceptions

of

the autistic “brat†when, in fact, the behavior is clearly communicating,

“I’

m in pain and don’t want to be here!â€

I encourage parents, instead, to focus on prevention instead of

intervention; partnering with their children well in advance of an activity or

an

environment to equip the very sensitive one with strategies, techniques, and

devices

to pull it off and get through it as successfully as possible, averting the

assaultive irritants that conspire their undoing. And I implore the average

onlooker not to jump to hasty and judgmental conclusions but to believe that

we all have good reasons for doing what we’re doing, and we all are doing the

very best we know how to on the spot and in the moment—even the child who

outwardly appears to be the product of “bad parenting.â€

" Ms. Michele "

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[Guest guest]

I hope that Mr. Stillman is healthy.

Kathy on

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