A student in Singapore, Asvin Kaur, asked me 5 questions and has agreed you can all benefit from their answers. Here they are:

ASVIN KAUR:

1. Comment on the possibility of an Autistic Person coping in mainstream society and why will they or will they not be able to cope in mainstream society?

DONNA WILLIAMS

Well every person with autism is different because the underlying issues and personalities and upbringing for each will be completely different. Some will only have social-emotional agnosia so struggle to read facial expression, body language and intonation. Others may also be face blind or have meaning deafness, meaning blindness, difficulty experiencing their body as a cohesive whole or differentiating physical sensations (all forms of agnosia). Some will be severely dyspraxic (motor planning problems) others will not. Some will have gut, immune or metabolic disorders and if these are untreated they likely won’t progress very dynamically and with a nutrient starved brain and toxic body they’re not going to cope well. Some will have co-occurring mood, anxiety and compulsive disorders and if these are confused with ‘the autism’ and left untreated, then they will struggle to manage. Many people with autism have extremes of their own personality traits due to the ongoing pressures of information processing issues so they may function like people with different types of personality disorders… may be far more obsessive compulsive, avoidant, dependent, histrionic, aggressive or solitary than others or just compulsively artistic! Some will have been brought up to have high levels of learned helplessness and others may have been so pursued their degree of Exposure Anxiety is sky high and others may have an environment so fixated on their ‘pathologies’ they have extremely poor sense of who they are as a person. So the ways they will and won’t cope in society and the degrees to which each will or won’t depends on the different ‘autism fruit salad’ each has.

ASVIN KAUR:

2. What are some of the challenges an Autistic person may face when trying to integrate themselves in society?

DONNA WILLIAMS

Again, this will differ for each. In my case meaning deafness made and still makes it difficult to be a full part of a society which uses speech for most opportunities and socialising. It’d be the same if I had Selective Mutism, Oral Dyspraxia or Speech Apraxia as part of my autism.

Being object blind, context blind, face blind and with a degree of social-emotional agnosia and limited ability to consistently process a simultaneous sense of self and other means people have assumed me to be less intelligent and switched on than I am or presume me rude.

Difficulty registering my body messages and emotions means I struggle to answer questions about what I need, want or feel and I tend to avoid touch except with my husband, with whom we’ve got used to me being the main initiator.

I have gut, immune and metabolic disorders which are managed through diet and supplementation and mood, anxiety and compulsive disorders which are medicated. Before these people had the same kind of problems integrating me that they’d have had with many people with learning disabilities and psychiatric problems.

I happen to be quite autistic by personality, and that has often been confused with my autism so sometimes there’s a struggle to advocate that others shouldn’t pathologise one’s personality!

In terms of integration, I think the biggest obstacle is other people’s lack of exposure growing up to those with special needs. Most of the people who show the greatest bigotry and ignorance are those who have presumed people with special needs are or should be off in institutions ‘somewhere else’ and this is the product of segregation from an early age as well as families and schools failing to familiarise these people with those with special needs on an equal level.

ASVIN KAUR:

3. What are some of the misconceptions people have on autism and autistic people?

DONNA WILLIAMS

That they are unfeeling, lack empathy, are rude, aggressive, that they are all geniuses or all retarded or all ‘think in pictures’. 60-65% of the general population think visually and many people with autism learn kinesthetically (physically through movement and hands on learning) or musically (by rote). Only 10% of people with autism are in the genius range (though many with Asperger’s have exceptionally high IQs) and even those with low IQs have had some wonderful, sometimes high level achievements. Many people with autism who have never spoken and fail to manage or show their feelings have written highly empathic and emotional works. Whilst some people on the autism spectrum are rude and aggressive, just as many are not.

ASVIN KAUR:

4. What is it like working with Autistic people, what are some of the joys and difficulties you face?

DONNA WILLIAMS

Again, they’re all different… maybe that’s the answer. They are diverse, as diverse as non-spectrum children. I think I cope well with it because I take almost nothing personally, I don’t need kids to love me, like me or need me, I don’t need them to share their feelings and I find interaction as rich or richer without spoken language than with it.

I’ve enjoyed helping restore a sense of social equality and empowerment to parents and families and those working with people with autism as well as those with it themselves.

The difficulties have largely been when dealing with sometimes pathological levels of ignorance, apathy, bigotry and crippling co-dependency in the wider environment.

ASVIN KAUR:

5. Considering the effects of autism on a person what advantage do they have and how can they than contribute to society?

DONNA WILLIAMS

Again, all are different. Some will be highly systematic. Many will love routine and be highly loyal. Many are totally upfront, honest, even blunt. Many are highly conscientious or quirky in their problem solving. Those who don’t fit mainstream opportunities can, and sometimes do, create self employment portfolios, which involve having several marketable skills. With the internet this is even more possible and http://www.auties.org is an example of a media via which such people have been marketting themselves directly to society.
ASVIN KAUR:

Thank you for taking time off to answer my questions and I am deeply appreciative of your efforts. Have a great weekend

Yours Sincerely,

Asvin Kaur (Ms)
Head of Internal Event
Student Ambassadors Management Committee AY08/09
Republic Polytechnic

DONNA WILLIAMS:

No problem.

Donna Williams *)

http://www.donnawilliams.net

author, lecturer and autism consultant

author of 9 books in the field of autism