Claire Barnett - Advocate

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Claire Barnett grew up in Clarksville with the world at her fingertips. She learned several languages, lived in Europe and even served two internship semesters at the White House, all before graduating a year early from Vanderbilt’s Peabody School with a degree in human and organizational development.

Claire Barnett also has autism.

She was diagnosed when she was 19 but said, “I’ve been autistic since I was born, because it’s a thing that people have and always are. But I didn’t know it. I absolutely knew that there were some things about me that were a bit different –– quirks, perhaps.”

Barnett is deliberate in explanations. But you’ll rarely catch her looking you in the eye. She’s straightforward and to the point, but gracious. She projects a learned mannerism that feels "neurotypical." This term she uses to describe people who aren’t on the autism spectrum, or "neurodivergent."

She explains that there is a whole spectrum of neurological conditions linked to the way people process information. These include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, Asperger's syndrome, Tourette’s syndrome and autism.

If you have one of these conditions, you possess a set of weaknesses along with a set of strengths that most people don’t have, according to Barnett. “So, we call this neurodiversity,” she says.

She acknowledges that her neurodiverse behaviors were considered the quirks of a gifted kid. These same “quirks” might land a kid with fewer connections in detention or passed over for advancement.

She believes that if she had been diagnosed sooner, her family dynamics probably would have shifted. “A lot of instances where I was picky about food or clothing, or I was really upset when the schedule changed, my family relationships could have benefit.

She had some difficulty understanding social rules of engagement.

For example, she had to learn to say thank you. "Not from an overflow of gratefulness, but because the other person needed to hear it. My mom used to say, ‘Claire, you’re so ungrateful.’ And I thought, 'You have no clue as to what I’m feeling.' Finally, I realized that when she does something for me and I don’t say thank you, she will feel hurt.”

Academically, Barnett consistently ranked top of her class at Rossview High School, and she was active in extracurriculars, which led to her being elected student body president her senior year.

Her mother assumed her quirks came from being gifted. But Barnett said she knew she was different.

While an early diagnosis would have explained a lot and made some things smoother, it also could have been detrimental, Barnett said.

I think of the Clarksville-Montgomery School System. There were many things that were done well. But I also got the perception that there was the lack of awareness or support for people with invisible disabilities, because I had no clue that it was even a thing until I got to college.”

If people knew of her condition, they would have put blanket services in place that would have only hindered her. The diagnosed autistic students she knew were placed in the special education classroom at the end of the hallway.

“I definitely knew people in high school that were on the spectrum but weren’t in that classroom. They just weren’t out about it. I thought you had to have an intellectual disability to be autistic, which I know now is a big misconception.”

Growing up with a tight-knit group of girlfriends who always included her, she remembers they considered her the “honest one” or “the blunt one.” She says social difficulties only arose once she stepped out of such an insular group, “because the people that didn’t know me well thought I was cold.”

Back then, she remembers if she didn’t know how to casually interact with people she didn’t know well, she tended to avoid eye contact, walk by them, and rarely interacted with them.

As Barnett mastered the art of making friends with other girls, she continued having trouble with boys.

“So, that was frustrating because I wanted to be friends with my group of girlfriends. They would hang out with these guys. But I didn't want to be made fun of or hit on in a way that was clearly sarcastic and overt. Those guys just knew I didn't know at all how to respond or what to say,” she said.

On the brink of womanhood, Barnett found herself by stepping into the important role of self-advocacy.

“I was in a class freshman year as a Peabody honors scholar and there was a presentation on music and art therapy for children. They talked about how those things can be particularly useful for autistic children. Just in one slide, they ran through the basic characteristics of children with autism. I was like, ‘I think that’s me!’ ”

So, she researched autism spectrum disorder extensively and “mulled it over” for a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, Barnett’s mother was in training at the Childhood Intervention Services at Vanderbilt that focuses on autism. One night over dinner, Barnett remembers, her mother had an epiphany that her training actually resonated with their family story.

In the span of two weeks, the mother and daughter came to the same conclusion that Barnett has autism. As she describes this “coming out” story, she beams with a resounding aha expression, paying close attention to extend a moment of eye contact.

A 19-year-old Barnett soon got a professional diagnosis.

That diagnosis gave her the validation she was looking for. But that doesn't mean Barnett is hoping for a cure. “You can’t separate this from our identities,” she said.

It’s become Barnett's mission to help others understand what it means to be neurodivergent, especially in the workplace. About 3% of adults have autism. With unemployment among adults with autism hovering around 80%, her advocacy work with Vanderbilt’s Frist Center for Autism and Innovation plays an important role.

As the center’s communications coordinator, Barnett commanded the attention of 2019 TedX Vanderbilt University attendees with her presentation, “Why Autistic Unemployment Is So High, and What We Can Do About It.” She also founded the Vanderbilt Autism & Neurodiversity Alliance and wrote a disability advocacy column for the Vanderbilt Hustler, the university’s newspaper, where she served as photography director while in school.