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Liverbird
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25 Jul 2008, 8:27 pm

Some of you know about my awful situation and the hell and stress that it's put me through in this last year. Some of you also know that I've suffered some health problems in the last year that are all indirectly related to my stress being as big as the oceans. The first being extreme allergy attacks, then gall bladder surgery, and now a chipped tooth with apparently, upon examination, extreme stress fractures thoughout all of my teeth caused by extreme grinding and clenching of my teeth which is evidently a stim that I did not realise that I had. I am in the process of getting my teeth fixed, now.

However, that is not why I'm cheering today. I went into work with the idea that I had a migraine that I'd had for 4 and an half days, and I would turn in my timecard and basically leave. As some of you may remember, I work for an adult service agency which services high school students through transition goals. When I got to work, I had an email from my immediate supervisor with an attachment that he told me to look over and see if it was something that I was interested in doing. He also told me that my big boss had already committed me to the project, so there was no real way to say no.

I opened up the attachment, but couldn't make much sense of it (it was four pages, single spaced, barely any paragraphs, and lots of jargon), so I said yes, I would probably do it, but I wanted to have a little more time to look it over. My supervisor came in and explained it to me. Then he took me over to my big boss' office and he told me exactly what it is.

As some of you may know, Indiana University in Bloomington is doing some of the foremost up and coming work in autism studies in the U.S. Now, the top two doctors are doing several kinds of training aimed toward autism awareness. This particular project that I've been committed to is the creation of several focus teams that will basically end up being go-to people in the state for autism awareness.

When I finally got myself to a place where I could actually read the attachment that was sent to me, I realised just how great a thing this was. The researchers actually asked agencies to send supervisors, team leaders, etc. I am none of those things. I'm just low man down on the totem pole with way too much personal crap going on. My boss said that he wanted me on the team because he felt that having an autistic person on the team would be a great asset. He feels as if this will be a great source of resources for me. I think that this could eventually lead to some legislation that will be very beneficial to disability rights and autism awareness.

I'm extremely excited by all of this! I was kind of in a place where the Asperger's hadn't given me too many things that I could turn around to be positive. I feel like this is a gigantic step toward being positive. So, yeah for me!! !! !!

I'll keep all of you posted as things develop!


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And you're not welcome here" ---Poe


DJRnold
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25 Jul 2008, 8:39 pm

That's great! :D
Could you please explain what these groups will be doing to spread awareness?



LabPet
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26 Jul 2008, 3:07 am

Great job Liverbird! I know you've had it rough.....you deserve this.

As far as autism awareness; you are in an optimal position to be a strong advocate. There's so much misinformation and you can dispel this with real current 'peer-reviewed' science and your own insights. Autists have much to offer.

Keep us posted :D


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Liverbird
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26 Jul 2008, 7:35 am

Currently these two doctors at IU have been educating teachers and school personnel through workshops and in-services to help them recognise signs and symptoms as well as appropriate classroom interventions (something that I have been doing for years, BTW). This is the second phase of that project. They are now working in conjunction with third party services (third party in this case referring to services outside of the school system) such as adult service providers, Vocational Rehabilitation, etc., to better streamline the student's transition to these services. Most adult service providers, BTW, usually only deal with LFA people, or people who are low enough on the HFA side to need more than one kind of social service.

This plan will help with both advocacy and awareness in a few ways. First of all, they are working toward dispelling the myth that all autistic people are created equally, thus they should have the exact same services. We all know that is not true because we exist on a spectrum and thus have different everything, including comorbid diagnoses. They are trying to promote awareness two-fold in this arena by showing our individual special needs (although we may have the same dx) and by providing new and more improved services and resources for us.

The next part of raising awareness among agencies is so that we ourselves, as providers can recognise that LFA is NOT the only side to the spectrum and to help us streamline services for all people on the spectrum, not just LFA people. This will allow service providers to expand services and in applying for grants, etc., they will raise government awareness of the need for increased services across the entire spectrum (this is hugely big picture, so I'm very excited about this part). My big boss recently got a grant (I know, gulp and swallow when I tell you who from) Autism Speaks to help fund our autism theater group. So, there is lots of money out there for expanded services for more of the spectrum, it's just that not alot of people realised that their was a need for that in our communities.

In any event, it will better equip me also to understanding the side of autism that I have no personal experience with and allow me to service the children that I work with better. It will also give me a chance to increase my advocacy skills which is something that I desperately want to put into place in more parts of my community. There aren't alot of advocates out there for autistic people in general. Resources are severely lacking in Indiana and there are almost no resources at all out there for HFA or AS people. It will also give me some resources that I might not have had before (at least I'm hoping). The more that I'm out in the public interacting with people in the public, successfully and with minimal difficulty, the more that I change public perception of autism spectrum disorders in general.

This last part is the really scary part. Considering that I am 39 (today in fact, happy birthday to me!), I have spent a significant amount of time in my life trying to hide my "weirdness" and my "alien factor". For the first time in my life, I am admitting openly and freely that I am on the spectrum (break into James Brown lyrics here: "Ow...it feels good"!) and helping people to understand that we do not sit in the corner and rock and drool. Most people are very surprised to learn that I'm autistic. Everyone around me that knows me forgets that I am (my husband just said last night in discussing all this stuff because it means 3 overnight visits to a strange place without him and that is hard for me, that "oh, yeah, I always forget your autistic").

I'm extremely excited about this opportunity. It just feels like my whole life has been leading to this.

Does this help you to understand the raising awareness thing, DJRnold?

Thank you, LabPet. I know that I am the right person to do this thing. I know that fate has somehow led me here. I hope that it is the extreme beginning to something that will fulfill me and make me feel as if I might just belong on this planet. We all know what a WrongPlanet it feels like, right?


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"All those things that you taught me to fear
I've got them in my garden now
And you're not welcome here" ---Poe


SteelMaiden
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26 Jul 2008, 10:04 am

Well done =D. I am glad for you.


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Liverbird
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26 Jul 2008, 3:28 pm

I'm glad for me, too. The more that I think about it, the better I feel about it and the more important that I think it is that I have this opportunity. Yeah for me!


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"All those things that you taught me to fear
I've got them in my garden now
And you're not welcome here" ---Poe


Liverbird
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27 Jul 2008, 8:25 am

Just bumping it up because I hardly ever pat myself on the back and this is important. What sort of things would you guys like poeple to study or survey about autism?


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"All those things that you taught me to fear
I've got them in my garden now
And you're not welcome here" ---Poe