The Autism Superhero: Embracing the Unique Strengths of Autistic Children.
1. Introduction to Autism
How fitting to envision someone with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a superhero; the mind is a complex and unique talent. A wealth of strength related to the complexity of the ASD brain, and the unique approaches to thinking by autistic individuals is rapidly unfolding. These innate abilities offer a breathtaking glimpse into the intricate abilities of autism. Some of the many qualities that underscore the remarkable strengths within autistic thinking include enhanced visual processing, a strong sense of immediacy, the unique ability to process detail, a strength in perceiving patterns, a strong aptitude for the technical, a pool of extraordinary memories, specialized interests, and advanced systemizing abilities. Rather than focusing solely upon the treatment of the differences present within the ASD, it is essential to recognize, develop, and celebrate the cherished strengths of these children too. Only by cherishing and nourishing the unique talents and strengths in our autistic children will they be able to continue their superhero journeys and become the best, most promising adults that they can be.
I want to be a superhero when I grow up,” states a five-year-old child with autism when asked about his future aspirations. This comment is indicative of the hopeful and realistic desires of autistic children and their families. Armed with knowledge about the unique learning styles that relate to autism spectrum disorders (ASD), educational experiences can be constructed to draw upon the inherent strengths of these children. Viewing the strengths of autistic children can shed light on the unique learning abilities that allow the children and their families to thrive. Understanding the inherent strengths and abilities of autistic children may lead us to appreciating the superhero qualities within each of them, as they possess the potential to significantly contribute to society as they grow to adulthood.
1.1. Definition and Characteristics of Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis for a wide range of neurodevelopmental conditions. Due to the breadth of these characteristics and the immense variability in children with ASD, it is challenging to come up with a broad descriptor that everyone will fit into. Autism Spectrum refers to the continuum of challenges that those with the diagnosis have. The characteristics of autism can coexist with a number of other conditions, and it can also be associated with excellent skills in certain areas. Autistic children often think and learn differently, and there is often a unique mix of challenges and abilities. There is a difference between autism and autism disorder. Autism is the name for the broader, general way that people with the diagnosis present themselves. Autism disorder specifically references a more permanent form of the condition, so while a child might present with autistic characteristics, only those who present with these characteristics and have a present language delay will receive an ASD diagnosis.
2. Understanding the Strengths of Autistic Children
Autism brings many strengths with it. Your child may be a whiz with art or music; an expert on wheels, maps or numbers; intensely focused on what interests them — often for long periods; mathematically talented; capable of stunning visual memory; and able to recognize details missed by the rest of us. Your own son or daughter will have unique abilities that may not even have yet surfaced. With such talents, let’s consider other members of our society who exhibit them — not just in a lighter or humorous light (as with Forrest Gump), but in a serious vein. Amongst the well-known and historical figures exhibiting these talents and traits can be found authors, movie directors, mathematicians, historians, astronomers, biologists, artists, composers, historians, actors and yeah — even professional baseball players. The list of such individuals may number over 150 people, spanning hundreds of years of time and many areas of expertise.
You and your child will naturally see the unique strengths of autism. What often isn’t shared — and indeed may not have been widely recognized until just a few years ago — is that many well-known people, living and historical, well-regarded public figures and acclaimed experts, exhibit many of the same traits. So while certain behaviors in our children — spotting another child who has a faucet dripping; utter joy at seeing an extremely rare bird or butterfly; memory retention that approaches infallibility — may call for close supervision, let’s not forget the benefits that these characteristics bring to society. These traits and talents are not at all limited to those who are in the extreme talent or genius range of autism research and awareness.
2.1. Unique Perspectives and Abilities
Before going on, let me take a moment to describe my extraordinary superhero, my adult son, and his developing perspective. In our universe of 6 billion inhabitants, he is an individual with autism; most often ascribed to be a disabled person not well understood. To me, however, he is rather an autistic person well defined with unique abilities yet to be discovered. He is 27 years old. He walks to the beat of an idiosyncratic drum while pushing a castered walker. With the exception of a stint in college to learn the business of working for someone, long overdue for the opportunity to earn paychecks for real-world contributions, he has spent his entire life working his hardest at everything. With his help, this chapter is about understanding everything he has learned in his atypical career. Leading this chapter with his extraordinary ability makes him The Autism Superhero. It was my intention from the start of this chapter to authenticate his perspective for the reader and establish that, from an ethical standpoint, his individual perspective merits an incontrovertible opportunity in the labor force.
At a time of global crisis and financial instability, developing a new appreciation for the unique strengths and abilities that autistic children, with their alternative perspectives, are equipped with may be the key to fostering their potential to make significant future contributions to help solve the world’s vexing economic and social problems. To me, realizing these insights also holds great personal meaning in my having come to acknowledge and understand better the unique perspective, thinking, and strength of character that my adult son has developed over the years. The purpose of this chapter is to share this insight and, accordingly, describe in depth, using many anecdotal life examples, the alternative perspectives and unique abilities that my adult autistic son has developed over the years. I believe that embracing these capabilities, rather than trying to model them to fit the societal norm’s anticipations, provides an optimal roadmap to help parental superheroes and their autistic children write the next chapter on their unique journey in the Spectrum of Life.
3. Challenges Faced by Autistic Children
Hyper reactions may be considered as self-protection mechanisms to potentially interfering stimulation, which can protect the sensory system but could have some detrimental effects on everyday life and quality of care. The few studies show the high frequency of subtly selective motor behaviors in the autism condition, with the belief that they can have a therapeutic effect. All the gastrointestinal, immunological, endocrinologic, neurologic, genetic, and para associations between some regression and autoimmune response or disease, gastrointestinal condition. Occasionally, this phase has been associated with the appearance of behavioral difficulties. It is interesting to remember that early disorders related to the central nervous system have been known since Leo Kanner. A short time before many autistic children have difficulty moving to characteristic pathology on the autistic symptoms, a number of somewhat typical phases can be observed before referring to the change.
While a person is required to perform many social tasks around other people, responding to them with the expected gestures or complying with implicit social rules, autistic people naturally require much more attention. They encounter much more expectations and can’t reduce attention to themselves and the social environment. There are many reasons that can lead to the development of sensory difficulties or to develop hypersensitivity. Abnormalities in sensory processing are considered an important feature of autism and can include both hypo and hyper response to sensory inputs. Sensory reactivity can dominate the lives of people with autism spectrum disorders. Those not fully authoritative sensory inputs received from the environment can raise responsibilities in both their autoregulation and the interaction with the surrounding environment of people with autism. Due to lack of coherence in sensory experience, there can be difficulty establishing a stable and consistent perception of the subject of the world.
3.1. Sensory Sensitivities and Overload
In either case, children with autism can also fall into a looping cycle based around dysfunctional sensory integration. When they need to tune others out more, they might become over-responsive from feeling overwhelmed. In the opposite scenario, they might have a problem knowing when to tune back in. Then, their responses will be under-responsive which means they will receive less informative input around the scenario and fuel their cognitive faults. This can seem like over-stimulation to children with extreme internal sensory sensitivity, or under-stimulation to children with hypo-reactive internal sensory sensitivity. Some individuals might appear distracted and lose focus easily, but it’s because of chronic stress and the obstacles they’re dealing with every day, such as over or under-reactive input/output. Just remember, function is not what it seems to be! Cognitive ability is so much more than expressing intelligent and proper behavior, it also must involve the connection that process has with the sensory systems restrictions.
The sensory system has the heavy responsibility of handling all of the information entering the brain. Our brains have an amazing ability to filter out what’s important and ignore the rest. Children with autism often experience an overload of excessive, irrelevant information due to the brain not addressing that filtering surrounding the sensory systems. A door creak, hand dryer, or a light flickering can turn into an overwhelming sensory experience. Try closing your eyes, or wear earplugs next time in the grocery store, or the mall or when at a baseball game. This can partly give you an understanding of what autistic individuals have to constantly grapple with. On the other hand, someone might receive an insufficient input through the senses and seem unclear to hear their name being called, forget basic safety procedures, lose valuable items, have trouble sleeping, and equally obtaining an accurate sense of body movement due to its relationship with the vestibular system. The nervous system is connected to the entire body, but it is especially linked to the movement of the body. This type of sensory input speeds or slows down an individual’s neural system and determines their state of arousal or relaxation.
4. Supporting Autistic Children in Various Settings
Strengths for kids when visited by a newcomer: New places can be overwhelming, but they become less so when children have planned these meetings in advance. Since aids are typically pleasant in controlled environments, children may feel overwhelmed when entering, seeing stranger landscapes, structures, and textures, or hearing strangers’ voices and scents. Therefore, try to change things slightly.
Strengths for preschoolers: If you bring the strengths of the superhero into a preschool setting, your home should reflect these strengths. Room to freely and safely explore, both inside and outdoors, as well as the option of a calm zone or restless room. A “toolbox” containing sensory products such as comfort items, soft headphones, a space to calm down, and a meeting or activity board displayed in a simple visual mode that is easy to understand. Play with a variety of styles and materials such as dough, soft lighting toys, or non-hard toys and a way to ease the transition.
At the back of the class, provide a nook where they can meet a teacher or parent to discuss their questions. Let students with sound sensitivities wear earplugs. Provide enough spaces and communication boards for students who need breaks to interact without words. It is also very good to have quiet zones that are not intended to correct behavior but provide essential downtime. It is also useful to create a flexible, kind, and parent-friendly schedule that allows parents to support social skills between classes if needed. Provide flexibility and freedom to choose some seating options, food or toys.
Superhero strengths for school children: Autism Spectrum is a broad spectrum, meaning that each person has a unique combination and intensity of characteristics. Each autistic person brings unique strengths into any situation. Superheroes can be assertive, so a child having difficulty in a large noisy room might feel more comfortable talking to an authority figure in a smaller room. Urge students to use their strength but also provide practical means for this to happen.
4.1. Educational Environments
Young people with ASD often possess astounding strengths that can be manifested in school environments throughout the educational journey. Once the unique strengths of students with ASD are recognized and understood, strategies can be implemented to help students capitalize on these gifts. Every child with ASD has unique skills, potential strengths, and developmental gifts, and parents, teachers, and therapists should evaluate these talents over the course of the educational experience, identifying the best ways to develop and extend the student’s educational journey productively and purposefully. Furthermore, educators should recognize and facilitate the development of valuable relationships between students with ASD and their classmates, especially those facing challenges with social interaction. It is important to help students string together as many positive early childhood memories as possible, to provide strength and resilience during challenging times.
5. Building Positive Relationships with Autistic Children
Whatever successes are achieved — and we can be amazed by what can happen when we do appreciate and understand — we should never feel that they are amazing, unique, or unprecedented. In time, we’ll come to understand that these kinds of changes are both achievable and sustained. Only with greater opportunities will systemic change be built from the ground up, leading from nothing less than transformed aspirations for all the unique children now seen as the Autism Superheroes.
1. Be accepting. People with autism are different, not less than others. They have unique ways of seeing and doing things and have strengths, interests, and needs that should be respected.
2. Discover what they are good at. All children have special skills and strengths — including those with autism. Autism often brings immense focus, sacrifice, attention to detail, honesty, appreciation of beauty, and many other wonderful traits.
3. Adjust and accommodate. The world is full of sensory and social challenges for people with autism. Making small adjustments to suit the needs of the autistic child will increase their chances of success and reduce their anxiety. Be understanding if the person doesn’t respond immediately or doesn’t speak at all. They may need pauses to process your words.
4. Communicate. If the child does not speak, they may communicate with you in another way. You can learn to understand and interpret these messages with practice and education.
5. Expect only what is normal for that person. Don’t ask autistics for more than they can give, whether it is in the area of academics, personal care, toileting, or sensory input. Be patient, encouraging, positive, and supportive.
Interactions between people can be complex and challenging, and it’s often said that people on the autism spectrum struggle to relate to others and work collaboratively. However, children on the autism spectrum have a lot to offer their peers and the wider community. Like every other child, they want to be welcomed, accepted, and understood. So, as a parent, teacher, or other children, how can you best interact with a child on the autism spectrum?
5.1. Effective Communication Strategies
Effective communication strategies are perhaps the cornerstone in forging effective interpersonal connections, and over time, sufficient study and evidence have accumulated to demonstrate that effective communication strategies between the autistic and those who surround him can boost the scope of adaptive communication abilities the autistic possesses. If a neurotypical person were to deliver news of his plans to any other neurotypical family member or friend, he would simply speak those words and inform the others. The assumption here is that neurotypical individuals have been conditioned to look for, grasp through language, interpret, and understand facts, knowledge, and circumstances around them. Individuals diagnosed with autism, however, show weaknesses which categorically denote communication struggles in diverse areas such as making sense of what others say, being unable to come forward with what they think, as well as being unable to understand or predict others’ actions and reactions.
The Autism Superhero: Embracing the Unique Strengths of Autistic Children by Sukanya Roy is a fascinating book that is not only easy to read, but more importantly, easy to understand. It is loaded with practical, real-life examples, and the parts where the author, Sukanya Roy, writes from her own personal experiences as an autism mother, make this book stand out from any other autism-themed self-help book in the market. The author recommends, “Parents and caregivers need to adopt a two-pronged approach for architecting life skills in autistic children. One is to build life readiness structures that are tailored to the individual’s capacities and shortcomings that may or may not entirely align with the neuro-typical global benchmarks. The second is to seek out growth hacking opportunities for the autistic. However, before we delve into a drill-down analysis of these anchors, we, as parents and caregivers, need to bear in mind that our verbal and physical abilities to connect with our autistic children in effective ways need to be lasered if we want to spark growth-oriented quests in them.”
6. Promoting Inclusivity and Acceptance
Here are six tips for making sure that children get the feeling of acceptance and awareness they deserve:
1. Smiling is the same in every language. If you see a child struggling to hold it all together, give them a great big giant smile.
2. Your words possess great power. Make sure that your words are used to protect the wings of all children — to allow them to fly as high as the stars.
3. Lead by example. Please be sure that you are what you want people to believe an autistically impaired person is — a caring, kind, loving, friendly person.
4. Help children to see that the smiles on their faces are responsible for the smiles on other faces.
5. Nothing compares to a world filled with kindness. When you plan your day, be sure to take along a bag filled with kindness.
6. Love is a circle that surrounds everyone. Always remember that the greatest thing in the world is to love and to be loved in return.
One of the greatest gifts we can offer anyone, including children with special needs, is the gift of acceptance and awareness. It is crucial for society to recognize and accept every unique creation living on Mother Earth. For where would the painting be without the vast diversity of colors? A message’s importance is not determined by the way it reaches its destination. Please inhale deeply, and with open hearts and minds, celebrate the wonder and glory that is the marvelously diverse world of Autism.
6.1. Community Engagement and Advocacy
I am regularly involved in community outreach and serve as a trusted expert voice for parents, educators, caregivers, and other organizations. I pay great attention to what the parent and child feel comfortable with when it comes to speaking about autism, our experiences, and my firsthand experience of what works when parenting my autistic child. I have practiced as a nurse and midwife, which equips me with the ability to communicate complex concepts in a clear, precise, meaningful way combined with a personal family story, and I can build rapport quickly. Becoming friends with people is something I genuinely enjoy. It’s not something I force or do for the sake of an end, but it is part of my nature. I use open and honest communication. When someone who is trying to listen to support you is to ask questions, I have found that the best way to understand is to ask, and that is not always possible without mentioning what is difficult and finding a way to rephrase the question in a more useful way. I can facilitate a roundtable discussion between hopeful, new, and seasoned autistic or non-autistic parents. In group parenting courses and support groups, I would love to participate as a patient advocate or in a location where a parent with expertise or clinical expertise is essential.
