Why should we be positive about Autism?
As a special education teacher, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to teach many students with autism. During the course of my career, and my graduate studies in autism, I have encountered many articles, books, and news reports that portray autism in a very negative light. Having seen the unique personalities, sheer determination, and of course, great potential in my students, I wanted to create a resource that focused on the positive: students with autism making achievements, going to college, finding careers, experiencing success in school, etc.
Rudolf Dreikurs said, "Whoever alters a person's expectations changes his behavior." I believe that if we don't expect that individuals with autism can learn, have careers, or be successful in life, we are setting them up for failure. Temple Grandin, a college professor and author with autism, shares in her book, Developing Talents: Careers for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism, that we "sometimes focus on the deficits in students' lives, and not their abilities. This is a major mistake. Instead, [we] must focus on helping students build on their strengths and work toward goals that will help them become successful."
The focus this blog will be the strengths, gifts, abilities, and accomplishments of individuals with autism, and the news and resources that can help you make your own success story! I invite you to share in the exciting challenges, joys, and unique experiences of the world of autism.
Expectation often also predetermines a result.
I'm a living example of something similar, on a smaller scale to the modification of expectations you mention here. My eyesight is, well, imperfect--even with glasses, the best I can see is 20/40 (20/40 in my right eye and 20/100 in my left, corrected). I've been this way since I can remember. As a child who has poor eyesight and depth perception, one would expect me to have poor hand-eye coordination now. That is not the case because, throughout my childhood, my father expected me to have good hand-eye coordination, so he treated me as if I had normal vision. The result: I'm more coordinated now, at the age of 22, than most of my perfectly-sighted friends!