Second Semester Teaching an Autism DeCal Class at UC Berkeley

Autism Decal, Take 2

First Class

First Autism DeCal Class today at UC Berkeley with co-instructor Devina. Larger class this sem and we got allotted a bigger classroom too. Almost half the class had not met someone with autism before today. This a word bubble of the words that came to mind when students heard the word autism. Lots of guest speakers this sem. Gonna be so good.

https://classes.berkeley.edu/content/2019-fall-psych-198-002-grp-002

Sensorimotor Issues in Autism

Week 2 of the 1:59 ASD Class.

Full house with 25 students + 2 auditing students.

Our first guest speaker Dr. Clarissa Kripke from UCSF on Sensiromotor Issues in Autism. Certainly gave the (NT) class a lot to think about.

A nod towards Respect(Ability) ---- She asked if the class had been assigned my article on experiencing Sproul Plaza with sensory dysfunction as a reading for today, or was I too humble to do so. Recommended the class read that article.

Immediately saw lots of startled glances look my way - earned some newfound respect from my NT peers-- Thanks Clarissa

Guest Speaker Igor

Guest Speaker and international Berkeley Law Student Igor Silva talking about activism and identity at our 1:59 Autism Spectrum Disorder class last night.

Prof Steve Hinshaw on Stigma 

ASD Adult Panels

Our 1:59 Autism Spectrum Disorder class this semester at UC Berkeley had two sets of Adult Panels so that students can better understand and interact with individuals on the spectrum. Why Adults - because many still think that autism magically goes away in adulthood. 

Thank you, panelists, for talking about your experiences and the Q and A. The class benefitted from the experience of hearing from you. 

Big Shout out to Ari Yovel, David Teplitz and Nathaniel Major​ from our first panel on 10/23/19

Another Big Shout out to Brazos Donaho, Brian Liu and Emma Hoy from our second panel on 10/30

Prof Pedro Ponce

11/6: Our Guest Speaker today from Mexico spoke on the use of Robots with autism

The Last Class of the Semester

12/5: Last 1:59 Autism DeCal Class (Psych 198) for this semester with 25 students. I had a fantastic time prepping materials and teaching this group of students.

From fellow teacher Devina and me. Thank you. You guys were a great class.

I hope you all will be an ally and continue to engage with the autism community in some form throughout your life.

Kroeber Hall

The class was held in Kroeber which is home to the Anthropology Museum

A student shows the protest banner she will be marching with right after class

Semester end Anonymous Feedback 

What did you like about this class? What was the most interesting thing(s) you learned from this experience?

• I liked the wide lens used to give awareness of ASD
• I loved how it was such an open and respectful place to discuss this topic. I thought the guest speakers were very interesting. Learning about their personal stories was the best part.
• I really enjoyed the Adult Panels! I found it interesting to gain insight into neurodivergent brains and lifestyles.
• I liked how all information was talked without the setting being uncomfortable as this may be a touchy subject or new to some people.
• I loved the ASD panels, it brought faces and real-life experiences to the disorder. The overall learning of the class was engaging. I
• I really liked all the different speakers you brought in, and I thought the curriculum was really interesting. I learned a lot about autism being a spectrum, which I wasn't aware of before.
• i liked the guest speakers
• Speaker panel, I liked learning about the different struggles that people with autism face given other disorders, life experiences, etc.
• I loved this class. I went into it not really knowing much about ASD and I feel like I've learned a ton! I loved hearing different experiences from different adults with autism and how their life has played out with ASD.
• I liked the speaker panels--the most interesting thing I learned was about the different ways people with ASD coped with their differences.
• I really enjoyed the guest speakers which were also on the spectrum.
• What I liked about this class is all the different guest speakers we had and especially that a panel of adults on the spectrum was included. The most interesting thing I learned from this experience is how society can adapt to ASD instead of the other way around as well as the new technology that is being produced to help people on the spectrum.
• Direct interaction with people with ASD
• The panels and hearing the stories of people who face these challenges. I also like how honest everything we learned.
• I enjoyed the opportunity to hear from a wide range of guest speakers on a variety of topics. The most interesting thing I learned was the fact that so many different factors play a role in how autism is stigmatized and seen as.
• I truly enjoyed my time in this class! I learned so many compelling things about ASD, including the struggles of the intersectionality of ASD with other marginalized identities.
• Speaker panel, I liked how we learned about autistic individuals' struggles given their different life experiences, other disorders they had, etc.
• Hearing people with ASD speak
• All possible ways in which ASD can exist. I think I have a much better understanding of the disorder now. I loved how many different people we have seen and read about, it was eye-opening.
• I really enjoyed how enlightening and open this class was it felt so wholesome and meaningful to learn about ASD, the different ways it affects people and the different ways it may be helped.
• I loved how the class gave me a strong foundational understanding of ASD. Additionally, the guest speakers were absolutely amazing, from the professors to those who are on the spectrum, all of them were very informative and great to hear from.
• I liked the guest speakers. The articles were extremely interesting. The most interesting thing was learning about intersections.
• It is good that this class invited many guest speakers, which enable me to learn from many perspectives rather than one aspect. I really like the seminar we had with autistic students
• There's nothing I can think of to change the course.
• Have more adult panels if possible or guest speakers on ways we can get involved
• I found the speakers all very helpful, especially the panelists when we could ask questions
• I wouldn't change much about the class! I thought all the class content was very refreshing and insightful.

• Thank you so much for offering this class. I truly really enjoyed it.
• Thank you!
• Hari and Devina both did an amazing job teaching this class. I learned so much more than I imagined and I really enjoyed it. I've recommended this to my friends and the knowledge that I''ve gained from this will be carried with me throughout life! Thank you!!
• thank you so much!!
• Thank you for your hard work in helping us to understand more about ASD and be better proponents for change in our communities.
• The class was very insightful overall and has given me a better general understanding of ASD
• Thank you very happy to have taken this class good luck with finals!
• Thank you so much for teaching this course; it is such a unique decal and it opened my eyes to so many aspects of ASD that I would otherwise have never known about.
• Great class!
• Thank you!
• I am so happy I got the chance to take this class.
• I am so happy I got the chance to take this class. I’ve told all my friends and family about how cool, interesting, and wholesome this class is.
• Overall I am happy with my decision to have taken this class and learned so much from the speakers and you, the facilitators, because other than just learning about ASD and how to advocate for them I also simply learned lessons on how to be a more decent human being. I learned that you don’t necessarily have to change someone's behaviors, but can learn to adapt yourself around them because we live in a world that is used to the neurotypical and although there are people who are different, they are not in the wrong.
• Overall, this course opened my eyes to aspects of ASD that I would have otherwise never learned. It was also such a unique opportunity that the class was co-facilitated by someone on the spectrum himself. Going forward, I hope to increase awareness on ASD, even if it means taking small steps like simply talking to my friends and family about what I learned from this decal.
• I found this class really inspiring because it covers a wide range of topics regarding ASD, which enables me to understand this spectrum from diverge and even conflicting perspectives. Even though the multiplicity of views sometimes raise dissonance in my mind, because it is always hard for me to find a “correct” answer to lean on, I think this is a right way to approach a psychological disorder: emphasizing its complexity rather than trying to simplify it.
• Another part of this class that influenced my ideas a lot is the seminars we had with students on the spectrum. By having sweet little conversations with Hari, Igor, and many other excellent people, I think I confirm my belief that people who have been categorized into a group may vary more greatly within individuals than vary between groups.
• This semester I signed up for a class in a topic that I had heard of but really did not know much about or completely understand. From the very first day I went to class I started to understand and learn what the Autism Spectrum Disorder is and that it can affect any one in manifest in many different ways. I learned that Autism is a spectrum and that therefore each individual has their own unique experience with what they go through. This spectrum is very dynamic and can come along with other comorbidities which keep influencing how different each individual's journey is and how challenging living with autism is or with autism and other conditions...Going to this class was what I looked forward to most because I was learning and hearing real stories and everything that was talked about matters. It matters more than any book I could read or anything I could google actually being there and hearing real people talk about their experience and how they are trying to help this community.
• I also appreciated finally understanding how the Autism Spectrum and other spectrum disorders was elucidated visually for me in the beginning of class. I had been working with people on the Spectrum for years, and had previously thought that I had understood the Spectrum much more than I actually did. For example, I did not understand that each member of the Spectrum displays challenges in each category of the Spectrum, but in different degrees of impact. This was critical for me to understand and very eye-opening to learn.
• When I first walked into that Krober classroom in September, I had no idea that I would learn so much about Autism in such a meaningful and enlightening way. I walked into an a topic that was unknown to me, and stepped into a new community that is now very dear to me. All of this was unknown and I know so much want to learn more.  I am thankful to have learned through professionals and others that have autism. The information they shared and the vulnerability they should was amazing.
• Communicating is a necessity for people. It may be difficult for people with minimally verbal autism, but despite that, current technology allows minimally verbal people to communicate and acquire social skills.
• Being enrolled in Hari and Devina’s autism spectrum disorder class shifted my mindset on the way I view autism and has made me a much more informed individual. Minimally verbal, “high functioning,” Asperger’s syndrome, savant syndrome, etc. autism is such a broad and beautiful spectrum. Autism doesn’t look or is supposed to be a certain way, it’s a spectrum, yet the labeling and treatment from society are usually all the same. The stigma and harsh treatment from society generally intrigued me because of how shockingly inconsiderate people can be.
• I did not know what to expect when I signed up for this course. I have learned so much about the ASD community and ASD itself. It has been so amazing to be taught by both Hari and Devina, and all of the guest lecturers and panelists that have spoken with us.
• I deemed the representation of non-verbal people with Autism essential to this course, as I felt that teaching others to presume competence could, quite literally, change the life of the non-verbal person.
• As a computer science and cognitive science double major, one of my favorite topics we learned about in this course was how technology can be used to help people with special needs.
• The first thing I would like to say is I am so proud of UC Berkeley for its acceptance for people with different living conditions and backgrounds. I am so privileged to get to learn about people from all walks of life.
• Another thing I learned was what Autism looks like. Growing up, I have never met a person on the spectrum before. This class was the first time I have been in a room with people on the spectrum.
• This decal has been extremely insightful and informational.
• All in all, I’m so happy I’ve taken this course and learned so much information about ASD and the different forms it takes on. It’s so interesting now when watching films with characters with ASD because I’m even a little closer to understanding the life of someone with ASD and trying to see the world from their perspective. I’m ecstatic to share all this new knowledge with friends, family, and peers around me. Thank you!
• I was very excited about this DeCal and I’m glad I took it before graduation. It definitely allowed me to understand the ASD a lot better. It made me realize how stigmatized the subject was, and I already took a step in the right direction by discussing it with several of my friends living here at Berkeley, and one of them is already signed up for next semester. I’m glad I was able to meet other individuals on the spectrum to see for myself how broad it actually is, and how unique every single one of them was. I have to admit that I was not as open-minded before and all of the lectures brought insight about the world of ASD.
• They say college is all about knowledge and experiences, and this experience is definitely one of the most valuable ones I could have learned here at UC Berkeley.
• My plan is to go to grad school for occupational therapy after I graduate from Berkeley. Before this decal I thought the most important part of therapy was the early intervention. I didn’t realize how many people on the spectrum get dropped of resources after high school. Seeing this lack of resources has made me want to look into occupational therapy for older adults not just young children.
• I knew very little about Autism prior to this class, but now I understand much more about what those on the spectrum have to go through. I feel like I can have a better attitude towards those with Autism and have more patience as I now know that many of the stigmas and misconceptions towards A.S.D. are false. As a result, I feel like this class has made me an overall better person. Many people do not know a whole lot about A.S.D., but thanks to this course I feel like I am capable of sharing my knowledge to people I know and help eliminate those negative stigmas towards Autism.
• Thank you so much for teaching this course it has been an extremely valuable learning experience in a very welcoming environment. It was an honor. being in this class and learning from you both :)
• I would like to thank Devina and Hari for the interesting Decal!
•  I didn’t understand that not only was autism a spectrum in terms of variety, it also could present in many different ways. For example, Hari is super smart and a functional college student, but also non-verbal. Autism looks different in every person.
• Thank Hari and Devina for organizing this decal. It was really well done, and I learned so much in just 1.5 a week. It helped me realize how interested I am specifically in psychology and understanding disorders, and this class has motivated me to get more involved in the future. Listening to speakers really made me understand how much interesting working is being done in this field currently and has affected my options as I’m looking for a full-time career next year. I took this course, because I recognized Hari from his Daily Californian articles, and I’m so glad I was able to learn from him this semester.
• This semester has taught me a lot. I have fully enjoyed this decal as I find it being one of the most applicable courses I have taken in a long time. I have always known that I have wanted to work with kids and people, but never have felt a direct certainty on what exactly that meant. With the help of this decal, the instructors, fellow classmates, and the speakers I have realized that I want to continue a journey with others who are exploring the autism spectrum and those, themselves, who have an ‘austistic’ identity.

On a scale of 1 to 5, how effective is Hari as an instructor?

How can Hari improve?

• He is also great! Always attentive and answer all emails and even in person always helps!
• Hari is so inspiring and I loved his funny comments!
• Hari was awesome at emailing us and guiding us through the speakers and their backgrounds before we met them. Also at reminding us about upcoming deadlines!
• Hari occasional feedbacks are very great and insightful. He really made an impression on me
• Letting us work together a little more.
• He can try to write more articles.
• I hope we can have more conversations with him and learn more about him
• I am so glad I took this course. Hari is such an inspirational person. I am so honored to have learned from someone so intelligent and unique.
• I never completely understood the concept that autism in non-linear until this class. I had always referred to people with autism as “higher or lower functioning” but I now know that is completely false. Hari has also given me a completely new perspective on non-verbal autistics. I never thought about the fact that the motor-cortex is nowhere near connected to thought- processing in the brain. I think it’s important that every non-verbal autistic has a change to learn something like typing or another form of communication so they can communicate their thoughts. I have learned so much from this class and it has been so interesting! Thank you!!

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