Text 137, 86 rader
Skriven 2005-06-17 11:34:23 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
    Kommentar till text 131 av Perry Smith (1:249/201)
Ärende: Rules of the Echo
=========================
Hi, Perry!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

PS>  Dealing with autism is really a life-long committent.


         Yes, it's much the same in our case....  :-)



PS>  A book can be written on the differences between
PS>  the autistic child and the austistic adult


         I won't ask!  I'm still getting a handle on the basics.  But maybe you
could enlighten the rest of us a bit at a time....  ;-)



PS>  Everyone knows how an autistic child behaves (although
PS>  no two are the same)


         I've seen autism described as a syndrome... i.e. a cluster of features
which may also be found among the general population.  I understand that (as in
other syndromes) no one individual will have all of these features.  But autism
differs from many other syndromes in that there is as yet no medical test which
would verify its presence, so the diagnosis is made on behavioural grounds.



PS>  they are dealing with social inadequacies.


         Apart from what I've read most of my experience has been with teens...
two in Nora's class, one with DS whose mother tells me he is also autistic, and
some of our friend's students whom Dallas & I met briefly.  I see they're quite
different from one another in many ways although inability to deal with various
social situations is apparently a common factor.  I wonder how much of that has
to do with sensitivity to noise etc.  Nora showed similar difficulties when she
was in the elementary grades.  She needed to get away from the madding crowd at
times, just as autistic kids apparently do, because she was easily overwhelmed.
And some folks didn't understand her reluctance to speak up in class... (sigh).



PS>  The autistic adult on the other time is often viewed
PS>  as the odd-ball of society, the guy who appears to be
PS>  brilliant but who is unable to tied his own shoes, as
PS>  an example.


         We have a neighbour like that... he's about thirty & he lives with his
parents.  He makes a bit of money writing shareware or something, but they tell
us it's a struggle to get him out of the house for medical appointments etc.  I
met him only briefly when he got a job with a local business, although Dallas &
I have known his parents for some time.  Evidently the job didn't last.  I have
no idea why.  He wasn't diagnosed until recently, I suspect in part because his
father didn't want to know... but it's not hard to see how such people can slip
through the cracks.  Not all of society's odd-balls are autistic.  :-)



PS>  He doesn't interview well as he cannot maintain eye-
PS>  contact and has problems expressing himself.  On the
PS>  phone or at the keyboard, he is a different individual.


         Hmm... sounds much like our neighbour!  Maybe what they both need is a
job where they don't have to see clients in person.  A lot of it has to do with
societal expectations, doesn't it?  In some cultures gazing directly at another
individual, particularly an authority figure, may be considered impolite and/or
aggressive whereas folks in our culture often seem to think it indicates a lack
of sincerity & whatever else they may be looking for in a potential employee.

         Also regarding social expectations... I was interested in your comment
about being unable to tie one's own shoelaces.  To many people, it's a metaphor
representing what society takes for granted that any six-year-old can do... and
representing the practical details of everyday living which a lot of people who
may be geniuses in some arcane specialty often seem unable to cope with.  To me
it has a certain personal significance which you'd probably understand....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver BC, CANADA [604-266-5271] (1:153/716)