Autism

[Churchman25]

When I was in highschool my school had an autism program and the amount of hate that it caused many students that were not in the program was seriously wrong?

My question is why can kids so spiteful of other kids with autism? I do get it they don’t learn the same way as other kids in fact many learn at a higher level than your average mainstream student.

 

[adamhovey1988]

When I was in highschool my school had an autism program and the amount of hate that it caused many students that were not in the program was seriously wrong?

My question is why can kids so spiteful of other kids with autism? I do get it they don’t learn the same way as other kids in fact many learn at a higher level than your average mainstream student.

I am on the spectrum and have some college education, but I was called “slow” but fellow students, and stuffed in and out of special ed. I think this is why I am so terrible at math. I was also abused at a very young age at a public school. School district refused to fire her because she had been there so long. I think we make assumptions about autism that are just blatantly false. I was also bullied many times because I did not talk much

 

[Allegra]

I don’t know when you were in school, but when I was a student, people were just beginning to become aware of autism. Some symptoms of autism can be disruptive to a learning environment or awkward in social environments and kids don’t understand why other kids with autism can’t “just act normal”. Social conformity is very important to teenagers. No one wants to be seen as “weird” or even be seen with someone who others might see as “weird”. Also, there’s no difference in appearance between a typical person and a person with autism other than a socially inappropriate affect, so unless other students are told about another student’s autism, (And teachers won’t tell them unless the autistic student asks them to because of privacy policies) they don’t know why they behave differently and so they make assumptions about their intelligence and or motives. That’s why autism awareness is important, and in my opinion, individuals on the spectrum are generally better off being open about it so other people don’t have to guess what’s going on. People tend to fear or dislike what doesn’t make sense to them, but if it’s explained what it’s like for people with autism, they tend to be more comfortable.

 

[zab]

I don’t know when you were in school, but when I was a student, people were just beginning to become aware of autism. Some symptoms of autism can be disruptive to a learning environment or awkward in social environments and kids don’t understand why other kids with autism can’t “just act normal”. Social conformity is very important to teenagers. No one wants to be seen as “weird” or even be seen with someone who others might see as “weird”. Also, there’s no difference in appearance between a typical person and a person with autism other than a socially inappropriate affect, so unless other students are told about another student’s autism, (And teachers won’t tell them unless the autistic student asks them to because of privacy policies) they don’t know why they behave differently and so they make assumptions about their intelligence and or motives. That’s why autism awareness is important, and in my opinion, individuals on the spectrum are generally better off being open about it so other people don’t have to guess what’s going on. People tend to fear or dislike what doesn’t make sense to them, but if it’s explained what it’s like for people with autism, they tend to be more comfortable.

Only those with a high functioning autism have no difference in appearance than other people. I have only become aware of the extent of autism in my husbands family in the past couple of years. For many years I did not know the name of the mental retardation that effected many of my husbands siblings, aunts, and nieces and nephews. It was only recently that I learned that it was autism. And not only that but others in the family who appear to be normal and intelligent have high functioning autism as well. Their appearance is no different than normal people. Our adult son has had a good paying job for many years writing programs for computers. Only in recent years I have learned that he was having panic attacks and ended up in the emergency room a couple times not knowing what was wrong with him. He is on medication now. After learning about the extent of autism in the family, I read up about it and I highly suspect that our son is also is on the spectrum. He works better from home than at the office. He is able to do that without any problem from his employer. Growing up he was a normal student. He worked hard and got average to above average grades. After reading about autism I began to recall a few things from him childhood. Sometimes he took things too literally. I wondered at times if he lacked some common sense, but for the most part, I did not notice anything too wrong with him. In the fifth grade, his teacher gave a writing assignment in which he was to convince his parents to let him bring home a baby elephant. He argued with his teacher that there was no way that his parents would let him bring home a baby elephant …He had difficulty imagining something that he thought was so stupid. The teacher insisted that he write the assignment and not turn it in unless every line on the page was filled. He wrote his paper giving all the reasons why his parents would not let him bring home a baby elephant and there was nothing more to say. But he had three lines left on his paper. So he took a scissors and cut off the three bottom lines and handed it in. Even up into his teens he bounced on couch listening to music. Sometimes he learned better from reading books than listening to a teacher, especially on technical stuff having to do with computers. On maybe two occasions I recall him having a sort of nightmare when he seemed to be wide awake. It was difficult to shake him out of it. But it wasn’t like it happened all the time. I now wonder if these were what he calls “panic attacks” now. His difficulties seemed to have gotten worse in his adulthood. He wants to be social and go to parties etc. but he always has to have a quick exit. Now that he knows about the autism in the family, I think that it has given him a little peace of mind to know what might be going on with him. He doesn’t want to tell his boss about the possibility of his having autism because he is afraid that he may lose his job.

 

[Allegra]

Only those with a high functioning autism have no difference in appearance than other people. I have only become aware of the extent of autism in my husbands family in the past couple of years. For many years I did not know the name of the mental retardation that effected many of my husbands siblings, aunts, and nieces and nephews. It was only recently that I learned that it was autism. And not only that but others in the family who appear to be normal and intelligent have high functioning autism as well. Their appearance is no different than normal people. Our adult son has had a good paying job for many years writing programs for computers. Only in recent years I have learned that he was having panic attacks and ended up in the emergency room a couple times not knowing what was wrong with him. He is on medication now. After learning about the extent of autism in the family, I read up about it and I highly suspect that our son is also is on the spectrum. He works better from home than at the office. He is able to do that without any problem from his employer. Growing up he was a normal student. He worked hard and got average to above average grades. After reading about autism I began to recall a few things from him childhood. Sometimes he took things too literally. I wondered at times if he lacked some common sense, but for the most part, I did not notice anything too wrong with him. In the fifth grade, his teacher gave a writing assignment in which he was to convince his parents to let him bring home a baby elephant. He argued with his teacher that there was no way that his parents would let him bring home a baby elephant …He had difficulty imagining something that he thought was so stupid. The teacher insisted that he write the assignment and not turn it in unless every line on the page was filled. He wrote his paper giving all the reasons why his parents would not let him bring home a baby elephant and there was nothing more to say. But he had three lines left on his paper. So he took a scissors and cut off the three bottom lines and handed it in. Even up into his teens he bounced on couch listening to music. Sometimes he learned better from reading books than listening to a teacher, especially on technical stuff having to do with computers. On maybe two occasions I recall him having a sort of nightmare when he seemed to be wide awake. It was difficult to shake him out of it. But it wasn’t like it happened all the time. I now wonder if these were what he calls “panic attacks” now. His difficulties seemed to have gotten worse in his adulthood. He wants to be social and go to parties etc. but he always has to have a quick exit. Now that he knows about the autism in the family, I think that it has given him a little peace of mind to know what might be going on with him. He doesn’t want to tell his boss about the possibility of his having autism because he is afraid that he may lose his job.

I work at an elementary school that houses the phase two room for autistic children in our district. I have never had an autistic student that had any difference in physical appearance that wasn’t due to affect or behavior. If you took a still photo, you wouldn’t know they were autistic. This kids are the most severe cases of autism that are served in a mainstream school. They definitely aren’t “high functioning”. They also aren’t often mentally retarded. Please don’t call people with autism “retarded”. Most would find that really offensive.

 

[zab]

I work at an elementary school that houses the phase two room for autistic children in our district. I have never had an autistic student that had any difference in physical appearance that wasn’t due to affect or behavior. If you took a still photo, you wouldn’t know they were autistic. This kids are the most severe cases of autism that are served in a mainstream school. They definitely aren’t “high functioning”. They also aren’t often mentally retarded. Please don’t call people with autism “retarded”. Most would find that really offensive.

Excuse me! Even you have said “They also aren’t often mentally retarded.” Are you then saying that in some cases they are? The case in my husbands family have been diagnosed and many of them are most definitely mentally and physically retarded. I am not saying this to be offensive. It is a fact. So please stop your accusing me of calling all people with autism “retarded”. And as I have stated there are also family members on the spectrum with high functioning autism. They are intelligent and do not look any different than other people. The spectrum is so wide on autism that I don’t think any one person has symptoms exactly like another. I have known an autistic young man, who was very handsome, looked normal, but did not act normal. And he could not speak a normal language. You could not hold a conversation with him.

 

[LightBound]

What does any of this have to do with Traditional Catholicism? The mods have made it more than clear what is considered Traditional Catholicism over the years and there is not one thing in the OP that could remotely qualify in the list shown here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=8102330&postcount=2

 

[St_Francis]

When I was in highschool my school had an autism program and the amount of hate that it caused many students that were not in the program was seriously wrong?

My question is why can kids so spiteful of other kids with autism? I do get it they don’t learn the same way as other kids in fact many learn at a higher level than your average mainstream student.

I read about cases of bullying in schools, some involving handicapped children, and I am just astounded by this. Why would people be mean to other people? Esp those who are weaker? It is just so… inexplicable.

CS Lewis says that people are drawn to different vices. Maybe there are people who would look at my vices and ask how I could be like that… so it’s sin. Just sin. And a lot of times, all we can do is to pray for them.

 

[Allegra]

Excuse me! Even you have said “They also aren’t often mentally retarded.” Are you then saying that in some cases they are? The case in my husbands family have been diagnosed and many of them are most definitely mentally and physically retarded. I am not saying this to be offensive. It is a fact. So please stop your accusing me of calling all people with autism “retarded”. And as I have stated there are also family members on the spectrum with high functioning autism. They are intelligent and do not look any different than other people. The spectrum is so wide on autism that I don’t think any one person has symptoms exactly like another. I have known an autistic young man, who was very handsome, looked normal, but did not act normal. And he could not speak a normal language. You could not hold a conversation with him.

In your post, you referred to autism as a “form of mental retardation” which sounded like you were saying that autism is a form of mental retardation in and of itself, which it isn’t. Some individuals may have both, but most do not. Some people with more severe autism have to use alternate forms of communication such as an electronic communication board or ASL, but even that doesn’t constitute mental retardation.

 

[zab]

In your post, you referred to autism as a “form of mental retardation” which sounded like you were saying that autism is a form of mental retardation in and of itself, which it isn’t. Some individuals may have both, but most do not. Some people with more severe autism have to use alternate forms of communication such as an electronic communication board or ASL, but even that doesn’t constitute mental retardation.

What was actually said was not what sounded like to you. I never referred to all autistics as being retarded. I only stated what is present in my husband’s family. There are a large number throughout his extended family that have mental and physical retardation. I knew it was not Down Syndrome but I did not know what their condition was until the past couple of years. Sometimes we think we are being clear yet others still misinterpret our words. Being that I mentioned that there are also family members who are high functioning and that they look like everyone else, they obviously do not have any mental or physical retardation. My son does not have mental or physical retardation. He is college educated and has a good paying job. But he does have symptoms of persons with high functioning autism. There are many of the members in my husband’s family and extended family that are not included in your “most that do not” category. But they are also deserving of love and respect. Retardation is not a bad word unless you make it to be.

 

[Jerusha]

Severely autistic people can be mentally handicapped, and not primarily as a result of other conditions. ageofautism.com/2013/05/heartbreaking-story-adult-son-with-autism-left-to-state.html

Watch the video here: Exclusive: Couple leaves autistic son in care of the state
(Her adult son with autism functions on the level of a two year old.)…"The waiting list for residential care for developmentally disabled adults like Telford’s son has 12,000 people on it, according to Fry.

The problem with severely autistic children is that intervention is very expensive, as it requires intensive one-on-one and early diagnosis. Most school districts do not have the financial resources. Most parents don’t either.

Peer support for high-functioning autistic children and adults may be a key. They need to learn to accept their quirkiness in order to overcome its negative aspects. Otherwise, they will stew in their resentments over being ill-treated (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski). I just received a postcard from my young adult son who is on his way to such a treatment center.

 

[Allegra]

Retardation is not a bad word unless you make it to be.

It’s generally considered “bad” when it’s used t label someone who isn’t. Whether it’s done from ignorance or malice, it’s hurtful for the person to hear. Autistic people suffer being called that word, both as individuals and in generalizations, even when it clearly isn’t true, by people who don’t understand autism, don’t know the individual has it and are misinterpreting atypical reactions and behaviors as an intellectual deficit, or are just plain mean. I think you should reconsider using it. Imagine how you would feel if it was you and you had to live your whole life being called that when you weren’t.

 

[Allegra]

Severely autistic people can be mentally handicapped, and not primarily as a result of other conditions. ageofautism.com/2013/05/heartbreaking-story-adult-son-with-autism-left-to-state.html

The problem with severely autistic children is that intervention is very expensive, as it requires intensive one-on-one and early diagnosis. Most school districts do not have the financial resources. Most parents don’t either.

Peer support for high-functioning autistic children and adults may be a key. They need to learn to accept their quirkiness in order to overcome its negative aspects. Otherwise, they will stew in their resentments over being ill-treated (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski). I just received a postcard from my young adult son who is on his way to such a treatment center.

Schools often don’t receive state funding for educating students under the age of four and autistic kids should begin intervention services as soon as they are diagnosed.

 

[zab]

It’s generally considered “bad” when it’s used t label someone who isn’t. Whether it’s done from ignorance or malice, it’s hurtful for the person to hear. Autistic people suffer being called that word, both as individuals and in generalizations, even when it clearly isn’t true, by people who don’t understand autism, don’t know the individual has it and are misinterpreting atypical reactions and behaviors as an intellectual deficit, or are just plain mean. I think you should reconsider using it. Imagine how you would feel if it was you and you had to live your whole life being called that when you weren’t.

I totally agree that that it is hurtful to some people to be referred to as having mental retardation when they do not. And this is especially trying to those with normal minds that are locked inside their bodies and cannot verbally communicate. I understand that these are not suffering from mental retardation. Fortunately for some of these, they have found a way to communicate through technology. I read a book a little while ago written by someone with this very condition. But even through difficult things we can all have something to be thankful for. Those who have retardation along with autism in my husband’s family can be thankful that they can communicate. For further clarification, I only used the description “mentally retarded” in my post to give the actual representation of what we experience. I did not use it in a derogatory way. If I did not use that description, you could not have an accurate understanding of our situation. But you seem to want to deny that this is the case. You have never met my husband’s family. So you cannot understand or know what their condition is. So to be clear, I do not call my in-laws or any other person “retarded”.

 

[Churchman25]

So when I was In highschool during my Sophmore year which was 2011-2012 there was a student with Aspergers that was graduating and this person was number 3 in his graduating class. So he was highly intelligent,but the way he acted and talked said something else. So he might have come off as mentally retarded but he was actually not. I also think that when it comes to schooling people with autism are put into a generalized category that they are all the same when this is clearly not true. They are also stereotyped too much to.