May 10, 2021
References
Cuncic, A. (2020, September 18). What is selective mutism? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-selective-mutism-3024702 Eton Institute (n.d.). Makaton: The sign language for non-verbal autism. https://etoninstitute.com/blog/makaton-the-sign-language-for-non-verbal-autism Fletcher-Watson, S., & Happé, F. (2019). Autism: A new introduction to psychological theory and current debate. Routledge. Goldberg, A. B., & Putrino, L. (2009, August 5). Teen locked in autistic body finds inner voice. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/2020/MindMoodNews/story?id=8258204&page=1 La Valle, C., Plesa-Skwerer, D., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2020). Comparing the pragmatic speech profiles of minimally verbal and verbally fluent individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50, 3699–3713. doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04421-7 Marso, S. (2014, May 5). Carly’s voice: Breaking through autism. Carolina Pediatric Therapy. https://www.carolinapeds.com/blog/2014/05/carlys-voice-breaking-through-autism National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). (2012). Communication problems in children with autism spectrum disorder. U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/Documents/health/voice/NIDCD-Communication-Problems-in-Children-with-Autism-FS_0.pdf Pietrangelo, A. (2019, June 28). Stimming: Causes and management. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/autism/stimming Weisblatt, E. J., Langensiepen, C. S., Cook, B., Dias, C., Plaisted Grant, K., Dhariwal, M., Fairclough, M. S., Friend, S. E., Malone, A. E., Varga-Elmiyeh, B., Rybicki, A., Karanth, P., & Belmonte, M. K. (2019). A tablet computer-assisted motor and language skills training program to promote communication development in children with autism: Development and pilot study. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 35(8), 643–665. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2018.1550176autism
Autism Spectrum Condition
Carly Fleischmann
echolalia
Makaton signs
mutism
nonverbal communication
Morgan Kuchta
This was a well-done and very informative article! I was especially impressed with your second paragraph and your explanation of how and why to use the preferred language. Making these simple switches (condition instead of disorder, placing the person first, focusing on support rather than function) is an important change to implement.
01/09/2022
10:02 pm
Yanelle Nicholson
Every assertion Nydia Ramirez made in her piece was supported by logical sources and helped demonstrate her exceptional writing skills. Many people, including myself, were educated by her writing about the stigmatization of autism and what it consists of. Because it can significantly contribute to the destigmatization of autism and the understanding of the numerous ways in which it impacts people, I genuinely enjoyed reading this article and appreciate the amount of study that went into it.
02/09/2022
10:02 pm
Franchesca Tinacba
I think this article was so well done, and one that truly explains what autism is. I know many individuals who have autism, and many of them feel outcasted due to the fear in being judged for having this condition. I believe this is a topic that many people need to be educated on that way people have a better understanding of autism and how people cope. Awesome job!
11/09/2022
10:02 pm
Makayla Soto
As someone who has friends and cousins with autism, I find this article so good at really explaining what it is and more of an understanding to it. People don’t think it’s as serious as other disorders and lightly talk about the topic. M glad people are bringing awareness about it now! Good details, knowledge, and background in this articl
16/10/2022
10:02 pm
Idaly Oropeza
This was an awesome article to read. I have a cousin who has autism, so I know first hand how misunderstood it can get. I agree with the fact that society should make smaller adjustments for people with ASD rather than making them adapt to us. I also loved the way that you discussed that being nonverbal doesn’t mean no communication at all it just means they communicate in a different way. I feel that many people misunderstand and underestimate many people that have ASD. They are way more capable than people think and I loved that you brought awareness to that.
18/10/2022
10:02 pm
Alyssa Leos
This article was very informational. I do have a cousin that I never see that has autism and because of that I never really knew what the true meaning of having autism meant. I’ve always known that just because someone has autism they’re not any different. This article allowed me to understand the different forms of autism and that autism isn’t the same for everyone. The one thing I did know was some that do have autism have a sensitivity to sound and I do know that there are many airports and different buildings that have sensory rooms that allow them to go into and relax. This article brought so much awareness not only to myself but to others.
13/11/2022
10:02 pm
Anayetzin Chavez Ochoa
It is great that you emphasize the importance of viewing Autism as a spectrum, and as you mention, there are several traits that could exist in an individual that may not appear in another person with ASD. In my personal life, I have seen all variations of people with autism, including people who may not have been officially diagnosed yet. Stimming is an activity mostly associated with Autism, but it has been linked with other conditions such as ADHD (some call it the cousin of ASD for its similar symptoms) and anxiety as well. The cure to ignorance is knowledge, and we need more people to spread the word about ASD to help others understand the spectrum and how to handle being a potential guardian to an individual with Autism. Too many people get dismissive about these things, so I appreciate the work put into this article! Thank you for using the term ‘condition’ and adjusting your vocabulary! An amazing read!
14/01/2023
10:02 pm
Bryon Haynes
I think there’s something truly valuable in this article not for just what’s contained within it, but how it’s written overall. The way it promotes healthy vocabulary and terms (as an example, the way she refrains from using the word “Disorder”) when engaging with the subject matter is what I valued the most while reading because it’s so easy to dismiss a sensitive subject when we as the general audience don’t know much about it and society as a whole doesn’t place any emphasis whatsoever on these issues. I really hope Nydia continues to educate people with future articles like this because the world definitely needs more pieces like this.
15/01/2023
10:02 pm
Muhammad Hammad Zafar
It best explores the topic of autism that how it affects communication. Writer is emphasizing that each person’s condition is unique and it affects the social and behavioral skills. The article also discusses self stimulating behaviors which are part of the disease.
14/04/2023
10:02 pm
Esteban Serrano
Nydia, this was such an informative and intelligently-written article! Thank you for sharing this information! I take two things out of this article: the first being Carly’s story. I have a few friends, and even family-related folks in my life who are diagnosed with autism or have some sort of ASD. I myself, have even been on the spectrum when I was younger. Carly seems to be the most severely diagnosed person I have ever heard or read about. What’s great about it is the perseverance at the end. Given her communication skills, the basics of both verbal and bodily, were lacked in her psychiatric behavior, but still found her own way of communicating with others. It involved technology and was used in a very proficient way. The second takeaway of mine is the subject of echolalia. I find this to be a very interesting psychiatric sense in the brain among severely diagnosed people. To this day, I or maybe someone else can find themselves doing this if that specific phrase, lyric, poem, etc was so ear-grabbing. Of course, it may not always be out-of-context or at random. Take for example, a song of good rhythm and lyrics. Would this be a good example of echolalia that even fully-matured people do? Children primarily ages 1-4 do this normally to fully grow and engage their brains in a specific topic of curiosity or simply to build their speech skills before they psychologically ‘mature.’ I remember one time in a movie theater, it was packed for the first weekend of a ‘Minions’ sequel. I was sitting surrounded by families with little ones, (so as you can imagine it was loud with hilarious excessive laughing and the occasional cries) and there was a little girl behind me who would repeat multiple phrases that Gru, one of the main characters, would iterate throughout the entire movie. It was very cute and made people around me chuckle, but because we all knew the baby was still learning things and picking up on phrases, constructing them, and specific words she was hearing for the first time. It’s a very intriguing subtopic to learn about when learning Psychology and autism as a human. The mind and the developed expectation of it is something beyond fascinating. Once again, well done on this research and thank you so much for sharing your knowledge on such a controversial, fascinating, expansive, and dynamic topic!
21/08/2022
10:02 pm