What people don't understand, they fear.  So discovers Julissa in her research paper on mental illness.   All too often, we are too quick to put labels on children that struggle with autism.  When that happens, things only get worse.  According to Julissa, we need to remove the stigma associated with mental illness.  Once we begin to understand and accept mental illness, the better we can help. 

Julissa Espinoza

English 1A

Professor Lewenstein

13 November 2016

The Misconceptions of Autism

     Autism is a disease in which the brain does not develop properly. The disease varies in different forms, affecting people diagnosed in different ways. Although many tend to have the same disabilities, each are not the same. The disease is just something that affects the brain but it does not define who they are beyond that. There are many misconceptions about the disease and those misconceptions are the very reason why I decided to choose autism as my topic for this research paper. Throughout my life I have met many people with ASD and I have never thought that they were any less different as people because of their disease. Although to many autism is seen in a negative light, I am one of the few who do not see it in that light. Autism is something people should look past. What matters is the person inside.

    ANYONE can achieve greatness and even with such a disease as autism people look forward and strive for better. There is so much controversy behind this disease and it puzzles me to see that with so much technology that there is no cure yet. Studies are done and scientists and doctors dig deep into genes and so forth looking for a reason to the development of such a disease, but there is plenty to be discovered.

    Claudia is a bright young woman with a heart of gold. Claudia’s day starts at five in the morning when she wakes up to get ready for work. Having endured so much as a child and even as a young woman it is clear to me that even with a child she was never discouraged. Claudia is not autistic, but she works for the autism department at Desert Mirage High School and she deals with autistic children every other day. I remember in school she was our library aid and she also juggled working in that department, a marriage that was on the verge of falling apart, going to school, and watching her son. It was always clear to me that Clau loved her job. Every morning as she walked from her car and she always knew that no matter how chaotic her day would be, things would always be worth it because she loves her job. Working with mentally challenged students is hard since things aren’t going to go as planned but she would never complain about her job. Claudia’s job was what kept her going, and it still is to this day.

    Having the chance to work with autistic students on a day to day basis justifies the idea that children with autism are “dumb” and “odds are they won’t be successful.” Although that is far from true, ASD does not define a person. Claudia knows what it is like to have people automatically label her students but she knows their true abilities and the potential they hold. To endure the different issues people, go through on an everyday basis makes me realize that a lot of people have these ideas about why children are born with autism and what causes the disease. Of course, Claudia has no idea why, but she works with children who are autistic every day and to her, they are people just like us. It is true; children with autism might appear differently and are perceived different from those who are not affected by the disease, although that does not make them any less different from us.

    The environment plays a huge role throughout a woman’s pregnancy. There are various factors that affect a woman’s pregnancy, although the environment is one of the most effective due to the chemicals that are dispersed into the air and then inhaled which may cause the defect. Within the past couple of years, The United States has reached an epidemic proportion meaning that each year, the increase rate for autism is only getting higher and higher. Stephan Barrie, a medical researcher took the time to consider the increase in autism. Barrie discovered that within the ten years, the money that goes towards autistic funds will only double due to the high percentage of autistic people throughout the United States. To many the idea of their taxes going towards autistic funds is not the best way, many feel that their money could be used for better causes opposed to autism, which is seen in a negative light by most people. In my opinion, there is no reason to fear autistic children and adults, at the end of the day people are still people.

    Judgement is something that people fail to realize affects those around them in a negative light. Therefore, simply because there is no cure to autism, those who are against it and don’t want their tax dollars going towards autism should reconsider. People tend to be fearful of autistic children due to their lack of speech and tantrums. Although people should not be fearful as autistic people are not “stupid,” they are more than meets the eye. The researcher mentioned “not just genetics that causes neuro developmental disorders such as autism but rather the interplay of both genes and the environment,” this created the idea that genetics have a huge role into this as well. Autism may appear to be a topic that many would not want to touch, but it is interesting and opens my eyes to the world. There are so much things that I had no idea contributed to the increase in ASD’s development during the time of which a woman is pregnant even to when the child is growing up. At the beginning of doing my research, I thought about reconsidering the topic, although when doing the research, I realized that there’s so much I must learn throughout this process.

*   *   *

   It is a beautiful day out, the sun is kissing my cheeks and the heat, oh the heat is unbearable. Clau and I have spent the entire day shopping, from getting sweaters for fall to getting new books at Barnes and Noble. It has been a long time since we’ve spent any quality time together besides hiking up the bump and grind in Palm Desert. We decided that no questions would be asked until the end of the day. Therefore, after an entire day of shopping, now that is almost over, were making our way to the bump and grind. It’s hot but not as hot as earlier, I can tell Clau is a bit nervous. It’s obvious that she has no clue what type of questions I might ask. As I ask her my first question, it dawns on me that I might be more surprised by her answers because Clau has such an intricate past. “Of course it has, working with autistic children has changed my life.”

    I was surprised that it affected her life so drastically because it opened her eyes to the way they lived and go through so much every day. I met Claudia when I was in high school. She worked at the library as an aid and as one of the Special Education teachers. She lived a life where freedom was something she was deprived up most of her life due to her father’s strictness. “He made me feel like I was a slave in my home, as if he was my master and I couldn’t go out or anything,” she was never given the option to go out and have fun, therefore she rebelled when she could. Now I see why she left home at such a young age, she had a child and although having Jr made her free, she had a child but she was free nonetheless. She made it clear that working with autistic children was not easy, she was put through so much and still is.

    “You see Jewls, its hard it’s not like you’re just watching them, you’re teaching them to grow and in a way, you grow as well,” I know it must not be easy but to endure so much daily must be hard. When it came to the third question, which was the most interesting for me, I knew that she was interested because she kept telling me on and on about it. “Backbone, you need that to do what I do,” she puts up with so much, outside of school and on campus. Clau poured her heart out and she spoke about how children with special needs get treated differently and the judgement they face is terrible. At this point this was when she touched the topic more than the other questions. “People think autistic kids are stupid when half of them could probably run circles around a person,” most people think of autistic children in such a negative light due to their disease. At this point we were already dying, almost to the top of the mountain and the view was worth the hike up and the questions answered.

    In the article by Shari Roan, Shari discusses Gayle Windham’s research study. Windham conducts a study with other scientists who are all striving for the same thing. Windham mentions that environmental exposure can possibly affect pregnant women. It is still up to discussion. Although Shari states that throughout Windham’s study that the exposure of chemicals can be a leading factor. That may be one of the reasons why their child develops autism. Nonetheless to my surprise, the article ended with the conclusion that there is no way to conclude that women give birth to autistic children because of the pollution throughout the world. It is still unknown but most scientists feel that the environment plays a significant role throughout a woman’s pregnancy. It could be that with so much pollution a woman who is pregnant can be affected and being affected can cause the birth defect amongst their child.

    I had no idea that this was even considered to affect pregnant women. Of all the things, I just never imagined the possibility that pregnant women could be affected by their environmental surroundings. Although with people who are affected by things such as second hand smoke and so forth I realize that this could be the same although it would affect pregnant woman in the sense that their children are born autistic.
Admittedly, I can see why people may have a fear towards children with autism. Fear is something so powerful in which it motivates people in the strangest of ways. Many school districts tend to stay away from putting out awareness towards autism because they would rather not touch the subject at all in fear of grabbing attention. Many children with autism have no issue with speaking about the way things like this make them feel. Since people shy away from the subject because it may cause issues with others and bring unwanted attention to the school district.

    Most schools do not consider the event of having people become aware of autism, and the lack of speaks for certain districts. I strongly believe that people who do things like this simply to avoid having attention brought upon them is shameful and inhumane. It is as if out casting children with autism leaving people clueless as to their disease. I believe that people are more afraid of autistic children because they develop differently in a mental sense.

    Although some schools don’t overlook autism and make it something important. Some schools make sure to have autistic children be a part of every school event. Unlike some that is a big deal because they are a part of everyday things and not left to feel any different than everyone else. To feel like you belong is something that anyone should feel because no matter what you look like, you are still a human.
Throughout this research process I realized that no matter what, people will perceive things differently. That is why many see autistic children as people to be afraid of. I believe that the fear is not because they are autistic, but because they look different and handle things in different ways because of their mental capabilities. Although people fail to realize that autistic children are just like us and to be seen in a different light is not only inhumane but it is also selfish. It is not like those children with autism asked to develop the disease in the womb. Of course, not, it is just the way it occurred and people need to see that autism is not a terrible thing. In fact, children with autism are far brighter than many would think, some of the most famous people are autistic and that has not stopped them from striving for better or letting their disease affect them in such a way that they feel the need to hide.

    Being open to diversity is something everyone should be able to do. Of course, it is not easy opening up to change, although it’s not fair to those children who endure so much and still push through it all. The strength they must have to go about their everyday lives is unbelievable and I love that children with autism are open minded and have so much love to give.

Work Cited

“Proximity to freeways increases autism risk, study finds” latimes, 16, Dec. 2010.

“On autism’s cause, researchers just scratching the surface” CNN. 1, Jan. 2011.

“Autism linked to jaundice in newborns” TODAY. 11, Nov. 2010.

“What’s Wrong with Autism Speaks?” 13, Nov. 2013.

“Child Autism Epidemic Firmly Linked to Environment” Huffington Post. 30, Aug. 2010.

“Age gap between sibs may show higher autism risk; study” NY Daily News. 11, Jan. 2011.