Meet Art Dubin

In this post, I would like to take a moment to talk about an extraordinary man who has Aspergers Syndrome.  Art Dubin was featured in Channel 4 local news in “The Heart of Detroit” story.  This story ran during the evening broadcast on December 15th 2011.  Dubin was interviewed by Mitch Albom about what it is like to have autism.  Dubin brought up the point that those with high functioning autism and Aspergers find complex tasks easy and interesting and tasks that most people would find easier, Dubin (and I, and many others like us) would find difficult.

This goes back to the point that I made in a post a few weeks ago, Autism as an Advantage: found at the following link:

http://voicefromthespectrumop.blogspot.com/2011/12/autism-as-advantage.html

 In this post, I talked about how I can "playback" movies, books, and songs in my head, which is very similar to what Dubin describes in his interview.  I discussed in my previous post that this ability can be used as an advantage while writing.

Art Dubin was named as man of the year by West Bloomfield Temple Israel, where he does a lot of volunteer work.  To listen to Art Dubin's interview, click the following link.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Heart-of-Detroit-Man-of-the-Year/-/1719418/5745134/-/8nkln/-/index.html

FYI: Upcoming Blog Radio Show

I want to inform my readers to check out a blog radio show tomorrow at 2 p.m. eastern time (11 a.m. pacific).  Among the speakers is sixteen year old Dani Bowman, who is autistic and owns her own animation company, Powerlight Studios.  Among the topics discussed are Christmas, Poetry, and autism.  I participated in a blog radio show just like this a few weeks ago and I was able to respond to a few viewer questions directly.  I recommend to my readers that you check out what will surely be an informational and inspiring broadcast.

To tune into the show, remember to click the following link tomorrow: Life In The Fast Lane Christmas Poetry and Autism.

What Autism?

I feel like I need to take time to address that issue.  Parents, the absolute worst thing you can do for a child with ASD is to try to make them "normal."  To this is to deny your ASD child everything that he (or she) is.  Do not deny that your children have autism.  A child raised that way is going to grow up feeling worthless, because he or she has been nurtured to deny his or her nature.  I understand that raising an ASD child is tough.  Remember, I was an ASD child, and believe me; it was not easy for me either.  To use discipline to try to eradicate ASD characteristics can make an ASD child aggressive, who then becomes a burden for teachers and childcare workers.

It is not shameful thing to have an autistic child.  Hey, I'm autistic and I'm a published writer.  I have had about two dozen news articles published in The Oakland Press and I am writing a blog that has received 2300 hits in more than fifteen countries.  You are reading that blog right now.  How many people can say they have done that?

Some parents try to hide their child's autism from friends and associates.  "Oh, I'm sure he'll grow out of it," becomes a common phrase used by parents to explain their child's behavior.  No.  Their child does not need to grow up.  Any parent who tries to deny their child's autism needs to grow up and get their eyes checked, because they cannot see that gifted individual who is their child for who he (or she) really is.  To deny that a child has autism is to deny that child the life they would have had if the parent had thought about meeting the needs of their child, rather than trying to make that child "normal."

The best thing to do is to take a step back and try to understand, okay, I didn't ask for this, but this is what I have.  I owe it to my child to step up and understand that my life will not be how I planned it to be.  Raising an ASD child will a hard, but enriching experience. My child  didn't ask for this either and any actions I take now will impact my child the rest of his (or her) life.  For better or worse.

Transition Time

Middle school was by far the hardest time of my life for many reasons.  I have explained many of these reasons in previous blog posts, but I want to isolate what I feel is the most important of these reasons: when I was in middle school, particularly when I was in sixth grade, I didn't have any peers my own age that I could rely on.  During the summer before sixth grade, I fell out of contact with my best friend after she went to a different school.  So, as a result, I felt like I didn't have any friends which contributed to my depression in the months preceding my treatment and official diagnosis with autism.

After I entered high school, many things changed for the better.  I can largely attribute this to marching band.  So, because of that, I recommend that ASD students in elementary try to get involved with some sort of extracurricular activity, such as a sport, Boy Scouts, orchestra, or band.  Parents, your ASD child may want nothing to do with what you are suggesting to them.  I didn't want to be in band while I was in middle school.  In spite of that, I encourage parents to try to keep their ASD children involved with those activities as long as possible, even if you have to fight your kids over it. 

If my mom would have allowed me to quit band in seventh grade, I would have missed out on so much in high school and today.  A week from tomorrow, I am performing a Christmas program, once again, in the Waterford New Horizons Concert Band, which in the musical group that I play in today.  You just never know where things are going to lead.  There might be trouble at present, but that can change quite suddenly if your ASD child commits himself or herself to that change.

I also encourage parents to seek out any peer-transition programs that might be available at any level of education.  I have witnessed such programs available at the middle school level and the university level.  You just don't know what is available until you look.

When my younger brother (who is off the spectrum) attended middle school, he participated in this program as a mentor to an ASD student.  Since the event took place six years ago, my brother cannot recall all the aspects of the program.   My brother does remember giving an ASD student assistance with schoolwork.  The mentors in this particular program received extra credit and their contributions were evaluated. There was a social event concluding the program where the participants, mentors, and others met at a local part to celebrate a successful year.

When I was an ASD student struggling in middle school, I wanted nothing more than people I could count on.  I received just that when I started high school.  Peer support really does make all the difference towards gaining, or regaining stability in the life of an ASD child.

Autism and Fun

Individuals with autism should not be discouraged from having fun in our own way.  There is always the need to develop and structure social skills at a young age.   We just do not have fun in the same way that other people have fun. 

It doesn't mean that we can.  I have seen individuals with autism dance just as well as those off the spectrum, if not better than most.  Personally, I have as much fun playing my "Nintendo DS" at home or watching TV than any college student who is out having a blast at a party.  It is just a matter of preference.

Autism as an Advantage

It is a basic principle of physics that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  While autism has many costs, there are also many benefits that are exclusive to those who are on the spectrum. These benefits take some effort to find, only through the trials that must happen in adjusting to an unnatural world.  Once stability has occurred, those with autism can move forward to possibly change the world, under the right conditions.

For example, for as long as I can remember, I have been able to "watch" movies in my head.  I use the word "watch" as a term to try to relate the sensation.  In reality, there is more listening involved than watching.  The sounds and words of a movie play back in my mind as occasional images from the film in question flickers across my mind's eye to accompany the sounds.  The "playback" is not always coherent.  Lines and sounds from a movie or song repeat over and over in my mind.  It can be annoying because I can't always get a repeated passage from a book or the line of a song to stop in my mind.  I have recently become aware that there are subconscious motives at work that determine what sounds are present in my conscious mind. The time when I could watch an entire movie in my head is long past.  I have too much on my mind these days to concentrate that hard for that long.

My "playback" is impacted by external factors.  If someone talks to me, the playback immediately stops and I focus instead on the conversation. Almost always, I can begin a playback again at nearly the same spot.  I used to believe that it was sound related, but I can also memorize portions of books. Primarily, these are specific phrases that hold significance in my mind.  So, it is not audio related, as I believed for the longest time.  It is more about the effort involved to implant something in my mind that means something to me.  No one wants to play "Star Wars Trivial Pursuit" with me because I know all six movies word-for-word.

You might think, well this is kind of cool, but what practical uses does possessing an ability, such as this, have in the working world?  Remember that I am not only a blogger but I write fiction as well.  I am working on a multi-part fantasy series.  When writing fiction, having the ability to recall movies, to recombine different elements into a new cohesive whole, the advantage becomes clear.  For the longest time autism held me back, now it just might make me into a famous writer.  How is that for a paradox?

Think about your children with autism, or those with autism whom you have been exposed to.  What do you think their special talent is?  Do you think that they can playback movies, songs, books in their head or do you think it is something else?  We are all gifted individuals with our own special talents and part to play in the world.  I believe in destiny.  Through my experience, it is difficult to grow up with autism and not believe in destiny.  Through all my trials, I believed that there were good times waiting for me just around the corner.  

And I was right