Personal Narrative: My Experience With Autism

“Work to view my autism as a different ability rather than a disability. Look past what you may see as limitations and see the gifts autism has given me…Be my advocate, be my friend, and we’ll see just how far we can go” –Ellen Botbohm, author of Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew.

In Catherine Maurice’s novel “Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family’s Triumph Over Autism” Marc and Catherine Maurice are the parents of three children, two of which, Anne Marie and Michel, have autism, whereas the eldest of the three children, Daniel, does not. Catherine Maurice first had Daniel, and all was well with him, as it was for her second child, Anne Marie, at least for a little while. Between the time Anne Marie turned one and when she turned two, her parents started to notice some behaviors that were not normal, like repeating behaviors, or a lack of communication skills. They receive a diagnosis of autism for Anne Marie and their world is turned upside down. They go to a number of doctors and are presented with the same bleak outlook from each one. Catherine however decided to search for her own answers and discovers behavioral therapy, and hires a therapist named Bridget to work with Anne Marie. As well as Bridget, Catherine found a supporter of holding therapy, Dr. Welch. With intense training, Anne Marie begins to move away from some of her problem behaviors. At first, Catherine believed that Dr. Welch’s holding therapy was the answer, but she eventually realized that Dr. Welch was a self serving therapist that was more concerned with her own status. As things are finally beginning to improve for the family, Catherine starts to worry about her next child, Michel. At first, the concern level was relatively low due to the fact that Michel was more outgoing and

In first grade I had a very hard time with a teacher in school. The teacher would yell at me a lot. The teacher did not understand me. I would get angry and frustrated and I would throw desk and chairs. In third grade I was diagnosed with autism. I started reading in kindergarten. By the end of my first grade year I could not read any more. My mom was worried.

As I thought back over my elementary school experience, I realized I did not get a lot of support or changes made to help me in the school environment. The first couple of years after I was diagnosed, my Mom would fill out a lot of paper work at the beginning of each school year but the only benefit I remember getting from all of this was extended time to take test, which I never used. Through discussions between my mom and at the teachers recommendation, they made the decision that since I never needed the extended time it was not worthwhile to continue filling out the forms, so my Mom stopped. I remember my Mom talking about the teachers recommending to not fill out the forms since they were not needed because it ‘labeled’ me.

Autism Spectrum Disorder affects various aspects of an autistic child’s life. Many children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder every year, while others go undiagnosed for an extended time, or even for their whole life. A child exhibiting delays in language benchmarks or showing little interest in the surroundings should be examined for possible ASD. Language is often impaired and although the level of impairment can range from severe too unnoticeable in each child, a child is likely to have a delay in another area, like coordination of motor skills, if not in language. Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that causes impairments in various aspects of language development.

The story “let me hear your voice” is told from the perspective of Catherine Maurice and the challenges she faced to help her children overcome autism. Catherine has three children, her first child was Daniel who was nurotypical and is considered a “normal” child. Her second and third children were Anne-Marie and Michel respectively, and they were both born with autism. Anne-Marie is described as having a “delicate face, with porcelain skin and faint roses in the cheeks and framed by wispy brown curls” (Maurice, 1993). Anne-Marie was reported as shy and introverted when she was about 13 months but ahead of other children her age. She would play in one spot for hours and never really crawled around but could say simple sentences like “hi daddy” when she was only 15 months. She would cry a lot and did not like unexpected events or to be away from her mother for too long. Anne-Marie began to regress a little later in the story; she didn’t really speak as much anymore but could repeat things that Catherine said like “car” and “cookie”. Anne-Maries tantrums grew worse as well and would sometimes bang her head on the floor when she was particularly moody. She was cared for by her mother Catherine, her father Marc, and her nanny Patsy. Michel developed a little differently than Anne-Marie. At one year old Michel was walking, talking, eating with a fork, and can say the word “no”. Michel was also friendlier than his more withdrawn sister at that age. His language skills were delayed

The doctor looked at me and didn't say anything, my mother in the opposite corner. Through gritted teeth I told them I didn't need a therapist, I don't want to talk to somebody about my issues. I wanted to keep them bottled inside, no matter how bad it was for me. They told me everything I already knew, so I just listened and nodded. The doctor stopped talking to me and gave her a list of therapists. I didn't want their help or a therapist's help, the only thing I wanted was to be dead, but that wasn't going to happen.

All the attention was overwhelming; my parents got me a psychologist whom then requested me to see a psychiatrist which only furthered my discomfort. The psychiatrist diagnosed me with major depression/severe anxiety, and a mood disorder; he then

“Being yourself” is one of the most common ideologies promoted to students at young ages by their teachers and parents. If this ideology is true, then why are so many students being bullied physically, verbally, and virtually for being themselves? Moreover, assuming a student does not have the ability to change himself in physical and mental respects, how can he overcome his hardships? I would now like to move onto an incident where I was ruthlessly bullied for being autistic. It was in the 5th grade, I was the only South Asian student, and the area I had been living in was predominantly inhabited with people of Caucasian background. That being said, it was generally hard for my classmates to socialize with me, in addition to the fact that I was suffering from autism.

The ability to express your feelings seems effortless for teenagers with the existence of "tweeting", blogging, and updating a Facebook status, but for those with autism it is demanding. Loud noises, accidental touches and even an indifferent expression may send an autistic child into a nerve-wracking state. My best friend is autistic; however, I never saw him as different. I am always there for him whether it is on the sidelines for the Special Olympics or whenever he is having a bad day. I am his cheerleader, just as he is mine. I have always been inspired by him to make the world a better place. Seeing him compete in the Special Olympics with his peers inspires others who might not fit in to find a place. There is a home for everybody and little did I know I was about to find mine.

I remember my high school days where I used to not take school as seriously as I should've. I had a 1.76 GPA when I graduated in 2013. I was just busy looking at sport websites like ESPN and tweeting on a regular basis. I hated school so much that I never wanted to come back ever.

Whenever I hear stories about Autism being addressed in today’s society, I’ve always hear these phrases, “Autistic people have no empathy for others, and therefore they can’t develop long-lasting friendships”. However, I never believed in this statement, because it was a common misconception about Autism. This is coming from someone who has lived with autism though out his life. This means that I only see the world in black and white with no gray area like my peers. So it makes communication with other people a challenge for me due to my social differences with the misconceptions trying to limit my potential of success. But, I’ve choose not to let the misconceptions define me for who I am and stop me from doing my own thing that I have a passion

I worked in the corporate world for 28 years and left to work with families with children with developmental disabilities. When my son was diagnosed, I considered it a starting point. I came to The Autism Project and they helped me in so many ways and I always said, “Once I can get my son situated and successful, I want to give back”. Now, I can do just that and it is such a great feeling.

Not too long ago a person with autism was put in the attic. They were considered a lost cause. I was diagnosed with autism and I to would have had the same fate. However, fortunately I did not suffer the same fate. When I was younger I had a lot of behavioral problems ranging from the complete lack of social skills to violent outbursts toward family and friends. My parents struggled to find a reason for this behavior. Going through numerous doctors, therapists and behavioral specialists until finally they found a place for me to get better; the child study and treatment center. However one of the many problems for this treatment center was that there was only one in the entire state of Washington and my parents spent a year fighting for me

What if one day your child went from meeting his/her milestones to not being able to do anything, how would this change your life? An experience that happened to me in my life, I found myself facing a diagnosis of Autism for our oldest son. I felt helpless as a mother, because I knew that something was wrong with our son, but I was powerless to help him. He just stopped talking, eating, and playing overnight, I was scared, confused and dumbfounded. I called my husband at work crying, I tried to explain this to him, but I could not get the words out. My husband asked me to try and calm down so that I could try to explain it to him, I held back the tears, and said, “our son is not eating, he is not talking he cannot play with his toys.” He told