Autism Speaks

You bring up an interesting point. Obviously, it affects everyone who knows somebody with autism. This is a good and bad thing. It is an unfortunate disorder that sadly strikes a lot of families everywhere yet this is good at the same time because of what the man said above in your post. It really changes the way you see things. You become a better person seeing things in multiple perspectives.

Seeing the videos of the children with autism at lecture instantly hit me so hard. I feel like because whenever Autism is talked about it's related to a sad or complexing story. Every time I've heard about it it goes right along with some very sad story line or how it's made that person's life hard. The videos in class brought it out in a semi-depressing light as well. Things are often spoke of more when they are sad, so to me I don't feel like Autism is actually viewed as a horrible thing but since most times we see and hear of Autism, it's connected with a sad story we instantly think sad and negative things when we think of Autism.

Your blog caught my eye because back in my hometown, I work with an autistic college student at the movie theater. The severity of the disease ranges greatly. When I first met the guy I work with, I had no idea he even had autism. After listening to his stories and observing the way he acts, it seems like his case is not too severe. The main symptom he shows is that he talks a ton and doesn't seem to know when to stop. He will say anything and everything on his mind. He is pretty blunt and cocky. Everyone at my job excuses his behavior. It just really amazes me how different people are who have the disease.

my cousin has a mild case of autism and i cant begin to tell you how smart she is. she has to really work on focusing and creating goals for herself and then to pull through with them, but i cant begin to tell you how many time i have been trying to figure out how to spell a word and she has been like " oh! its blah blah blah blah..." i look at her, three years younger then i, and go, "oh my god".
i know that i would wish nothing best for my future kids, for health and confidence and intelligence but i know that if my child had autism i would love them just the same. in fact if the world needs more people with autism i would be honored to be there mother.

The topic you chose for your blog is very interesting. Honestly, before watching the video about autistic kids in lecture and before reading your blog, I felt pity for those who had autism. I hadn’t realized that kids with autism are just as capable of leading a successful life; it just takes them longer to learn. I don’t know anybody personally who has autism, but I knew somebody in middle school who had autism and he was in my Honors English class and he was so much smarter than some of the kids in that class. Autism is seen with sympathy because sad things are said about it, when actually so many successful and intelligent kids are autistic.

When we watched the video about autism in class last week, I too had this question. I think it's very typical of society for form perseverance in the belief that "our way is the only way" and anything differing from the norm should be frowned upon or in the case of autism, pitied. Even though the children in the video were compulsively lining up toys or withdrawing from others, why was it important to change their behavior if they were content. Furthermore, I initially found it demeaning that they seemed to be using operant conditioning to train children like animals. It didn't sit right. However, as the movie progressed I started to see the importance in Lovaas' treatment. Yes at times children with autism are content but other times it was very evident that the behavior of the children were negatively impacting both their lives and their parents'. I didn't get the impression throughout the video that the parents were resentful towards the challenges their children gave them, but in regards to your question, I do think work in trying to improve autism cases in children is rewarding and beneficial.

What do you think? Why is it seen in such a negative light? Or any mental disorder or cognitive disorder? What made you decide to blog about this topic?

I think that the Neuro-typical and the Autistic can get along if they both do their part to try and appreciate each other better.

Your article brings up a interesting question. In my opinion autism isn't all bad. I think that people just focus on the worse cases on autism and just assume that people with autism cant function in everyday life. I have a friend who has mild case of autism and if he wouldn't have told me he was autistic i would have never known. I don't think that autism is really that bad, i know in some cases in can be but thats in the extreme cases.