The Importance of Service Dogs and Why We Should Include Them and Their Handlers in Our Community

Amber Perry wrote a wonderful article about the KindTree Autism Rocks camp, a fun and relaxing trip where autistics "can just be themselves, free to stim, socialize with others without having to worry about ridicule or having any kind of authority forced on them, eat food that suits their dietary needs, enjoy plenty of arts and crafts and other activities to ground them and exercise their never-ending minds." I've gone twice before and it was a lot of fun, just as her article describes. I was excited to volunteer this year. I want to get more involved in the autism community, and of course thought this was a great way to do it. I was, however, disappointed to find out I would not be able to volunteer, or even go at all. It is upsetting to find out that a community that prides itself on being accepting of all types of people, can truly fail to be.

I wasn't allowed to go because the camp doesn't permit service dogs.

          When I attended camp years before I didn't have my service dog yet. A service dog is a dog which is trained to do specific tasks that aid a disabled person. A service dog, by law, must be allowed to go with their owner anywhere the public is allowed. Camp Baker Boy Scout camp is where KindTree's retreat is held, and due to some loopholes in the law the Boy Scouts are legally able to ban service dogs because they identify as a private club. This is like banning a person with a cane, or a wheelchair, or insulin to treat diabetes. And because the Boy Scouts have decided to grant KindTree’s Autism Rocks camp access to Camp Baker, it leaves little leverage for KindTree to advocate on behalf of its community members for ADA law without risk of dislodgement.

          Service dogs are a life-saver for thousands of people with a variety of disabilities. These dogs can be trained to smell the breath of a diabetic in order to assess their glucose level. They are trained to open doors, pick things up, aid in balance, alert people of imminent seizures, and call for help. They can provide a focus point for someone who is overwhelmed by their environment or events going on; this is called grounding and it's what my dog does for me. From an outsider’s view it looks like an excited puppy jumping up and down, being extremely adorable, and licking my face continuously. But even though T’Pol is an incredibly cute dog she has been trained to act that way. She is small, and easily fits onto my chest where she is trained to lay down just beneath my chin so she has perfect access to kiss my nose. When T’Pol does this I can focus on her, ignore the world, try to get my head together, and enjoy life.

We are all familiar with meltdowns. Sometimes our brains just can't deal with the overload of information the world offers. I have found, personally, that I can't focus on just something, but my sentient 3lb ball of furry energy can force me to focus by going, "Hey! They don't matter! Look at me! I'm so cute and soft!" I can sit and concentrate on her and then after a short time get back in there and deal with that horrible bright light called sunshine and those awful florescent bulbs. I can cope better when my neighbor decides he enjoys blasting "music" with overly heavy bass at odd hours, and I can make it through all the different kinds of social interactions I’m presented with without shutting down and running away. A simple addition of a fuzzy friend in a blue vest (not required by law, but often used to mark service dogs) is all I need to calm down instead of freaking out to the point of exhaustion, resulting in the need to sleep for the next 6 hours or more.

Not everyone on the autism spectrum uses service dogs, but many do for issues caused by autism as well as other disabilities not connected to autism. They are part of the autism community, but they are not welcome at this amazing, so-called accepting retreat so many of you look forward to all year. The Boy Scouts have been in the news numerous times for discriminating against a variety of people. Most likely you have heard about the lawsuits pertaining to the LGBTQ community, however there are others affecting wheelchair users, blind and deaf folks, as well as Down Syndrome and other disabilities.

I understand why KindTree felt they couldn’t press the Boy Scouts to support ADA law so I could attend this year. They had all of you to protect too. The needs of the many can certainly outweigh the needs of a few, but sometimes the needs of a few represent the needs of the many, and their rights. Should we be having our most beloved event held at place owned by such an unaccepting, discriminatory group? I don't have a solution. It’s a tough thing; where else would we have the retreat? I am sure it would take some searching, but I have to believe there are other places where everyone truly will be accepted.

As we continue to learn and advance and grow as an autism community, so will the tools we use to help us navigate life, like service dogs, giving us a wider degree of access and security in our crazy world. I will not be the last person to be denied access to an otherwise safe and accepting place I have every right to be. I sincerely hope we as a community find a path that allows the freedom we’ve fought so hard to find come to fruition for everyone, fairly and equally.

What Autism Is Not: 10 Myths About Autism

Autism awareness has increased several times over in the last two decades. Autism is now a household word. This awareness, however, has not significantly decreased some of the misconceptions about autism.

It's easy to find material about what autism is. You probably already know a fair amount. It's a developmental disability marked by deficits in communication and social navigation, as well as displaying intense, narrow interests.

Unfortunately, it can be more difficult to find information about what autism is not. That's what I would like to focus on in this piece. I've chosen ten of the most destructive myths about autism.

1. Autistic people do not experience empathy.

Let's start with one of the more pervasive myths. This is still frequently quoted by experts when describing autism. However, it's simply not true.

Empathy is usually described as the ability to copy another person's emotions. Doing this correctly requires at least some understanding of how th other person's mind works. That is always more difficult when the other person has a different neurotype.

It may appear that autistic people have more trouble with that because most of the people around us have minds that work different from ours. Once we can learn how the neuronormal mind works, empathy becomes much easier, and in fact, it tends to be easier with other autistic people.

2. Autistic people do not experience emotions.

Perhaps the root of this myth has to do with the fact that autistic people, especially children, do not tend to use nonverbal communication the same way as the people around them. This means that we tend to show emotions in different ways that most people are not used to seeing. In addition, the same situation will often trigger different emotions in autistic people from what it might cause in a neuronormal person.

3. Autistic people can't form relationships.

From what I can tell, most autistic people do place more importance on our own personal interests than other people. However, that does not mean that relationships, whether familial, friendship, or romantic, are any less important to us.

Don't forget that a relationship is a two-way process. If an autistic person is interested in pursuing a relationship with a person, and the other person is willing to reciprocate, autistic people can and do form meaningful relationships with others.

4. Autism is usually accompanied by an intellectual disability.

There have been times when the majority, or even all, of recognized autism diagnoses came with an intellectual disability. For a time, that was even part of the definition. It was reinforced by the fact that autistic children were often institutionalized and placed in a setting where learning opportunities were not present.

With the recognition of “high-functioning” autism and the addition of Asperger's syndrome, we know that autistic people are often quite intelligent. In fact, upwards of 70% of recognized cases of autism have no intellectual disability.

This has also led to a belief that all autistic people are geniuses, which is equally untrue. We are all individuals, and each of us is different. Autistic people exist along the entire range of human intelligence.

5. Autistic people are all the same.

This usually takes the form of, “I've seen [insert TV show or movie here],” or, “My [insert relation here] is autistic, so I know all about autism.” It can even take the form of, “I'm autistic, so all autistic people can be like me.”

The truth is that there appears to be several different kinds of autism. Even within that, we're all individuals. Each of us has different abilities and different needs. Some of us struggle with things that others find easy. A common saying in the Autistic community states that “if you know one autistic person, you know one autistic person.”

6. There is a normal child trapped inside an autistic shell.

This can be a particularly destructive myth. It's typically quoted by those claiming to provide a cure or a miracle treatment, playing on parents' desperation. It often leads to parents focusing so much on trying to save their child from being swallowed up by autism that they forget to build a relationship with their child.

The truth is that building a relationship is the most important thing you can do. Nurturing the child's interests, planning activities with the child, and just generally having fun are the best ways to cause the child to open up and grow as a person. The child will always be autistic, but that doesn't have to be a setback.

7. There is something in the environment that caused autism or aggravated symptoms.

Whether it's vaccines, lead, smoking while pregnant, or any number of others, something must have caused this autism.

In all likelihood, autism appears to be genetic. Unfortunately, the myth of an environmental cause often diverts resources away from needed supports and services, and directs them instead to trying to find the source of the autism. It can also lead to some off the same problems caused by myth #6 in this list.

This myth is also built on the next one:

8. There is a massive autism epidemic.

Autism rates have increased from 1 in 10,000 in the 1960's to 1 in 68 now. That's a huge increase.

For this, it's important to recognize the difference between autism and an autism diagnosis. The definition of autism has increased dramatically since it was first described by Leo Kanner. The vast majority of us are in a part of the spectrum that wasn't even recognized in most of the world until the 1980's, and wasn't broadly known by professionals until the 1990's.

Furthermore, several studies have shown that when you use consistent definitions across the generations, there appears to be no significant increase.

9. Autism is a childhood disorder.

Autistic children grow up into autistic adults. It should seem obvious when you think about it. The problem is that most people don't think about it. That can lead to inadequate services for adults.

10. Autistic people can't achieve success.

This is usually based on the idea that there are no benefits to autism. We have plenty of advantages that we can use. Logical thinking, intense focus, and attention to detail, just to name a few. Additionally, as I've said before, we're all different, and we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. If given a chance, there is no reason an autistic person can't succeed in life.

I've had to condense most of these to fit them all in one piece. If you want to know more about any of them, keep checking back, or read any of the many other autistic bloggers out there. I look forward to exploring these myths further, as well as other autism-related thoughts, in the future.

Autiism in girls vs boys

            At he risk of sounding sexist, when I read this article my first thought was of course they are going to look at boys more than girls. Girls are supposed to be quieter and shy. Boys are expected to noisy and active, if they don't, parents and doctors rush to his aid and try to fix the problem, lest the boy grow up to be different. There's a lot of social politics about how a child develops, especially boys.

            Another problem the article points out, is how long it took for girls to be properly diagnosed. They just didn't see the significance of the girls behavior. Again, less attention is paid to girls.

             Think I'm exaggerating? I wasn't diagnosed until I was fifty, the psychologist merely confirmed what I told him and despite having friends who had it or had children with ASD, no one saw it in me.

             "But you act so normal," they explained when I questioned them. Yes, after decades of imitating neuronormals as a coping skill.

            The Lesson here is that adults need to get past gender expectations and pay attention to girls as much as boys or it will lead to the stress of undiagnosed girls struggling to develop or fit in.

           

Say Thank you instead of I'm Sorry

This is excellent advise for those on the spectrum. Try it.

http://brightside.me/article/stop-saying-sorry-if-you-want-to-say-thank-you-a-seriously-insightful-cartoon-57255/