Autistics helping other Autistics
ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,480
Location: Long Island, New York
14 Jul 2017, 3:20 am
That's the message for young autistics from two Tauranga residents who know more about the struggle to be themselves than most.
Jason Edgecombe and Paula Jessop are both high-functioning autistics and run their own small businesses aimed at helping young people steer their way through life with autism.
Neither Jason nor Paula were diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, or high-functioning autism, until they were adults. They don't mind being labelled as autistic – in fact, they embrace it.
“We all have labels but we should use labels to empower ourselves, not take away from us,” says Jason.
Canadian-born-and-raised Jason says growing up with a disability in the mid-90s wasn't socially accepted and he was bullied as a child. His diagnosis of autism at the age of 23 was a revelation.
“It was like putting on glasses because there were all these things I was like, and ways I would react to certain situations and I could never really explain it. Half the time people just thought I was an as*hole.
“When I finally got that diagnosis and my wife and I were able to look at the traits of Aspergers I was finally able to look at what I was like and see why. I was able to understand who I was and why I was like how I was and be able to control it and start using it, rather than being used by it.”
Jason's business, Breaking the Label, is focused on helping young autistics identify who they are.
He runs four youth groups and is contracted to work with two others. He also works with an autism home schooling group called Mockingbird and does one-on-one peer mentoring with young autistic people.
He also speaks at various conferences, including the 2015 TED X conference in Tauranga. Public speaking is one of his “natural talents.”
“If you're engaging one person or 1000 people, the principle is the same. My anxiety and stress hindered that in my younger years but as I got older and started to master my quirks I was able to manage my anxiety and let my epic speaking abilities come out.”
Paula was diagnosed with Aspergers in 1999 and while she welcomed the diagnosis, she struggled to find any helpful information about it.
“When I tried to find out what it was, all I could find was psychology texts that were inherently really negative – you don't have empathy, you don't care about people, you don't have the ability to love. I couldn't find anything positive, or any other autistic people either.”
As a graduate student she began her own research into Aspergers. It led her to where she is today, trying to show young people with autism that it's not a negative and their life doesn't have to be a struggle.
Through her business Autism Insights, she gives presentations to medical professionals, disability organisations and parents trying to dispel the negative stereotypes.
“I call it radical acceptance – not just tolerating us but genuinely seeing our strengths and valuing us as the people we are.”
She also provides peer mentoring for young adults, mainly female, aged 18-24.
Paula and Jason met through an autism network and realised their work was complementary.
“We like to try to reach out to young people because they don't get positive role models like us,” says Paula.
_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
14 Jul 2017, 8:15 pm
I assume this type of help being offered is only for other Aspies like themselves, this makes sense as they are role models and they would expect the people they mentor to be able to comprehend and act on the advice/training
For the other 70% of autistic people finding people to help live independently/find work is more of a challenge
15 Jul 2017, 6:24 am
UGH! Cyberdad... while others need help with some stuff, they should NEVER have a negative opinion about themself or their autism which is a part of themself... and autism is always caused by thoughts and feelings like everyone else's stuff... they need empathy too... and to come to the bottom of their whatever-it-is that is going on inside them. Even if it's simply being given time to figure out God or some wierd scientific formula or whatever.
17 Jul 2017, 8:18 am
I'm not sure about this. It comes off to me as him trying to be "the voice of autism". Even at the height of social confidence, for instance, I'm hardly an "epic speaker". My skills lie in the potential to be extremely extroverted. However, I usually come off as a bold and pretentious weirdo, if not charming at the same time. I honestly feel more alienated by my inability to relate to my label anymore. Two or three years ago, I would have been considered one of those aspie supremacists as a survival mechanism. These days, that title seems to be how Trump's cronies identify themselves when I'm pretty much the exact opposite personality wise (of Trump at least, anyways). Even the diagnostic tests seem to have changed to accommodate their manifestation of autism, specifically and society is extremely welcoming to me as I am.
17 Jul 2017, 7:52 pm
The problem for the other 70% is that nobody really knows what's going on inside them. Aspies who want to speak on behalf of all autistic people should certainly be encouraged (I have no problems with this) but it's naive to think that Aspies know better than NTs what is best for lower functioning autistic people.
Frankly autism advocacy can be divided into two groups. Higher functioning folk helping other higher functioning folk whom they can relate. They also have parents, friends, partners and spouses as a support network.
Moderate-lower functioning folk, however, only have their NT parents for support or advocacy. If anything happens to us then our kids are basically on their own.
In addition the low-moderate functioning label conveniently sets them up for a lifetime of dependence. However I am optimistic (I have no choice but to be) that we can find ways for these kids to grow into functional and independent adults.
17 Jul 2017, 11:19 pm
That is easy when you consider the fact that autism in general is triggered by environmental factors. The source of the problem is actually within our own community. There are a select group of aspies who like to promote and practice abuse of power and they often have a comorbidity of narcissistic personality disorder. However, are we going to just sit by and let "lower functioning" autistics bully us to extinction based on the actions of a few of us just so they can feel like gods? Yes, I believe some of our abusers of power are "just like that", but the same tendency runs in some "lower functioning" autistics. Amongst both of these groups, the "light at the end of the tunnel" simply doesn't exist and that is just a sad fact of the realities associated with life. I know that a lot of people think that functioning labels are ableist and that is true to an extent, but I think the key here is that we need a social hierarchy WITHOUT abuse of power. Otherwise everything becomes a messy neoliberal free-for-all that would never know peace or social justice.
Enter Donald Trump.
18 Jul 2017, 1:36 am
Could you give one concrete example of lower functioning autistic people being bullies? I'm genuinely curious
I would frame this in terms of society needs social hierarchy as we have not evolved to an advanced state
18 Jul 2017, 6:52 am
http://www.aspires-relationships.com/as ... milies.htm
While this may seem legitimate, it is actually a cleverly disguised attempt at a political power grab by the liberal elite. For instance, I found this alienating article on psychology today:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/co ... -evolution
Tell me with a straight face that autism is that prevalent? It is not. This is clearly a thinly veiled attempt at advocacy of the socially competitive environment that is blatantly discriminatory towards individuals on the autism spectrum. Rich White liberal families that want to cure their child's autism? Hmm... this sounds alarmingly familiar. I wonder if it is any coincidence that Autism Speaks "no longer seeks a cure for autism".
Fortunately, the very nature of the propaganda is inherently flawed. When you closely observe our social structure, you realize that we aren't that different from other minority groups in our alienation and anger. After dealing with mass amounts of existential stress, I've come to the realization that my anger is not the neuroticism rich liberals would like to paint it as. I realize that all those above listed traits do indeed come off as applicable to myself and you've also got to consider the professional environment of the workplace.
NT or ND... what we're dealing with under Trump is abuse of power, plain and simple. The message against him is also loud and clear. Millennials, as a whole, seem smart enough to understand the differences, despite their NT shortcomings. I've actually become a bit of a "symbol" in my community even, by mistakenly taking the propaganda as a genuine threat and rising above it, becoming somewhat of a master of both the NT and ND worlds and pouring all my energy into speaking up against the psychological acrobats of abuse of power and helping lift others in my community up beyond the propaganda to the best of my ability.
So yes... in the right environment with the right supports, a lower functioning autistic could hypothetically be just as capable of abuse of power and could even be construed as racist or sexist by nature.
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