The Autism Spectrum, A Story: The Autism Spectrum: A Story

The Autism Spectrum: A Story

Every 1 in 68 children in the United States is affected by Autism. There are many misconceptions about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the people that are impacted by it. Numerous people believe that children with ASD do not want any friends, are intellectually disabled, or that they have limited language skills. However, autism by definition is: a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. Nothing in the definition states that children with ASD want to isolated. There are a lot of myths caused by years of neglect to research such as, people with ASD do not want any friends, are

But even before this happened, my sister had difficulty connecting with her peers. She would come home crying day after day because she just could not make friends like the other kids in her grade. Children with ASD do in fact crave human attention contrary to popular belief. Because of the ASD the child may seem unfriendly and cold. However, most children with this disorder struggle with their social skills and cannot express their want for friends the same way we do. They struggle to communicate with people no matter the age and they have difficulty knowing how to handle a social situation. My sister Victoria, for example, struggles to read the room and the environment. For example, when the room is tense and no one is talking, Victoria will waltz in and start telling a story, in turn, making the mood go downhill even worse. Because some people who have ASD cannot read a room, the misconception that they are intellectually disabled

This stems from the social aspect because some will tie the two together, even though they are completely unrelated. There are two different main forms of ASD which will be further explained shortly, called high functioning and low functioning ASD. When I asked a few of my friends what they thought ASD was, they stated that they pictured someone who could not talk, or go to school because of the learning disability that they may have. However, the terms, low functioning and high functioning ASD lets people separate them. The image that my friends have come up with falls into the “low functioning” category. Children with low functioning ASD have a harder time in school and may not be able to go to school at all. Children with high functioning ASD still have a harder time in school but typically they have higher language skills and can communicate more efficiently. But, people with ASD regardless of the severity could still have extremely high IQs. For reference, my sister is consider a “high functioning ASD” and despite the misconception she has a very high IQ. Having ASD can make school work harder because some with this disorder develop OCD and anxiety and that plays into the work. It may take Victoria over an hour and a half to complete one assignment because it has to be perfect. Having ASD does not by any qualifications make the child any less smart. However, even knowing this, some adults think