Running head: SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT 1

Signature Assignment: Autism

ECD 440

Courtnee Jones

Fresno Pacific University

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Autism

For autistic individuals to succeed in this world, they need to find their strengths and the

people that will help them get to their hopes and dreams. In order to do so, ability to make and

keep friends is a must. Amongst those friends, there must be mentors to show them the way. A

supportive environment where they can learn from their mistakes is what we as a society needs

to create for them, Bill Wong, Autistic Occupational Therapist. Autism is disorders that are

being characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal

communication and repetitive behaviors. Autism has an effect on many different things but the

main things autism affects is the emotional impact, marital impact, sibling impact and financial

impact. (what is autism, 2016)

Having an emotional impact involves some up and downs for the family members of the

child. Having this impact most parents feel like it is their fault the way their child is, anger at

themselves or their significant other, the feeling of being overwhelmed and feeling socially

isolated. I have personally understood the emotions of a autistic parent because my brother has

been diagnosed with autism. I remember my parents feeling as though it was their fault as to why

my brother is autistic. I also remember my mother being angry because her first child is different

and her not being able to understand why it happened to him. Martial impact includes parents

accepting their childs autism at different times and in different ways then the other. This is an

ongoing specific issue that my parents face because even though they understand who my

brother really is, my parents have a hard time accepting that he is autistic. Sibling impact

includes the sibling feeling the many stress faced by the other family members. This includes the

sibling feeling left out because of the parents fulfilling the needs of the autistic child. I can

honestly say that I do not remember feeling left out because of my brother condition. Last but not
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least the financial impact with autistic children usually face a financial burden. It is said that the

autism treatment and therapies are not covered by the private health insurers and can be

expensive. I know financial issues did not affect my family and their decisions on getting my

brother the help that he needs and deserve.

Autism involving social relationships involve bullying which is the main event that

happens to child with disabilities. Bullying tends to happen in middle and high schools for these

children and the best way to prevent it is building relationships with others. My brother and I

attending school together throughout our years of going to school. I remember I would always

have to fight and have bad attitude to other students at my school because those children liked to

bully my brother. As the school years moved along, my brother and I gotten to middle school he

started to make friends and I started to have friends as well. The friends that we both made

accepted him and knew that if another student picked on him they would instantly shut that bully

down. I am forever grateful and appreciative for our friends an students who stepped in and

helped me protect my brother. Autism for the classroom requires different needs so that child

will have a 100% chance to succeed like any other student in the classroom. Having Visual aids,

structure/routine, and working in pairs are great solutions for children with autism. Children with

autism love to have structure and have a seat routine. Having a routine daily shows them what to

expect and do every day of their lives. I believe having my brother on a schedule every day has

helped him improve as an individual and prepared him for his greatest success.

To be able to work with children with autism in the classroom you would need to do your

research and understand them fully. Children with autism are visual thinkers so in order for these

children to learn it is best that they have pictures along with the word to get a better

understanding. Another thing children with autism are great at doing is working with computers,
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drawing or art. My brother, Collin, is awesome at computers! He knows how to get to a specific

program when need be, he knows how to fix a computer if it does not work properly and he

knows how to control it to what he wants it to do with his eyes closed. As a family we courage

him to go to online college and become an IT for the electronics and he is still thinking about

whether he would like to or not. My dad also suggested to him that it would be an awesome

career one day for him to get involved in. Autistic children have trouble with their penmanship

and this involves having trouble with their motor control in their hands. To avoid the child

becoming frustrated with this it is best that they type on a computer or help them with tracing the

letters multiple times on a work book. Another thing that autism children have a difficult time

with is loud noises. (The Arc's Autism Now Center, 2016) My brother also had a difficult time

with loud buzzers and the bell ringing at our school. I would always see him cover his ears when

the bells went off and I wondered why because to me it did not seem loud.

Autism is not only in California but it is also around the world to different cultures and

different countries. In china there is no tolerance for anything abnormal. At school, individuals

unique talents are not sought out and encouraged. In fact, there is no such thing as the

individual. Unlike in the United States, where personal interests and talents are discovered at an

early age and nurtured, everyone in China is expected to perform at the same level. There is no

special class for math people or art people or music people. Everybody must be equally

good at math, at art, at music. Differences are frowned upon. (Ross, 2010). This breaks my

heart quite a bit because this seems pretty unfair to those students that have autism. China also

does not accept children with autism in their schools and in kindergarten. Everyone must be the

same especially in uniform so nobody stands out and becomes a distraction. Even though my

brother has autism he did not get put into special classes, he was in a regular classroom all the
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way through high school. My brother Collin also did not receive any extra help for his

homework or any special notes because he has autism. Collin received his grades fair and square

without any treatment. I always would ask him for help on a assignment that I did not understand

and he would tell me sorry, you should've took better notes.

The classic film that refers to Autism is called Rain Man. Rain Man is about a self-

centered Charlie Babbitt, which is Tom Cruise, is informed that his father has died. Charlie

expects a potion of his elder Babbitts $3 million dollar estate. He later learns that all he inherited

is his dads prize roses and his 1949 Buick Roadmaster. Discovered that the $3 million is being

held in trust for an unidentified party which has him returning back home to see who this party

is. Turns out that the beneficiary is Raymond Rabbit, which is Dustin Hoffman, the autistic-

servant older brother that Charlie never knew he had. Raymond reminds me a lot of my brother

in this film because he is able to memorize trivia, add, subtract, multiply, and divide without a

hesitation. Raymond watches jeopardy every day at the same time and my brother is in love with

jeopardy and knows the answers to the questions as well. Autism affects the child in many

different ways like their development, attention and interaction. The development of a child with

autism develops at a different rate and don't necessarily develop skills in the same order or way

as other children. The attention of a child with autism do not tune in or interact with other child

as they way a normal child would. Not responding to eye contact, waving without being told to

and smiling at someone they know is normal to them. I also remember my parents saying that my

brother would not speak until he gotten to an older age. I remember dropping him off and

picking him up from speech and other places where I could not stay with him because it was only

for autistic children.

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Autism is a serious condition that children do have and it is required that you as a parent

take it seriously. I understand that some parents do not like to complete agree to their child

having some type of diagnosis because we all want our children to have a normal life but, they

are all Gods children and he made them the way they are on purpose. Autism is all around the

world and not only in the United States. Autism is in the UK, Canada, China, Hong Kong,

Brazil, and Australia to name just a few. I believe these children are the best children because

even though they may have some type of diagnosis, they are the most amazing human beings

that God brings to this world for us to acknowledge that every child is not the same. I am proud

of my autistic brother who graduated high school with me at a 4.0 and got student of the month

twice in middle school. Collin is an awesome example of a child being autistic but is capable of

overcoming his condition to complete school with no assistance needed and received his high

school diploma.
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References

Rain Man. Dir. Barry Levinson. Perf. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. 1988. Film.

Ross, C. (2010, January 07). Autism and. Retrieved December 16, 2016, from http://
www.ageofautism.com/2010/01/autism-and-normal-in-china-.html

Society, A. (2016). Home - Autism Society. Retrieved December 16, 2016, from
http:www.autism-society.org/

The Arc's Autism Now Center. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2016, from http://autismnow.org/

Turnbull, Ann, Rud Turnbull, Michael Wehmeyer, and Karrie Shogren. Exceptional Lives:
Special Education in Today's Schools. N.p.: PEARSON, n.d. Print.

"What Is Autism?" Autism Speaks. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2016.