Marble Lincoln 19 feet tall
Glory days etched on towering column and wall
Bothered not by milling crowds
Determination, Compassion
Bent in contemplative reflection
Witness of democracy
mirrored in the reflecting pool
Things of past, sights of present
and protests in between
I wonder....
What would you say Abe?
If you were now given a voice?
If you were given a voice?
What would you now say, Abe?
From 6 Countries and 14 languages comes this tribute to healthcare workers around the world from the Sacramento based WeEmbrace and founder Meena Kalayanasundaram
Happy to have played tiny role in this compilation
My tiny bit
So I'm President of the Spectrum: Autism At Cal,
Student Org at UC Berkeley, for 2020-21
I had not even tried for the President role to begin with. Though I was offered the role, I was not planning to take it on. In fact, I was helping the outgoing President with our new org structure and interview candidates for all the board positions including the position of President. The experience of interviewing for positions was quite interesting actually as I got to know a lot about the candidates - both in terms of their skills and personality for the tasks required and their general attitude toward autism and what was their driving motivation. I got to witness this additional side of them which you don't see in your day to day interactions and was so impressed by their passion. This was very different from the interviews I do to get student reactions and experiences for Daily Cal articles.
Spectrum: Autism at Cal (SpectrumAtCal.org), had its first autistic President last year - Cole Hasserjian (Cole is also featured in my Daily Cal article on autistic students at UC Berkeley - It Really Is A Spectrum). The org has had neurotypical presidents in the past. So that will make me the second autistic President of Spectrum and the first Non-Speaking President.
The org has grown quite a bit since the time I've been at Cal. So much so, that the board org structure was expanded and updated for the coming year. The org has both autistic and neurotypical students and around half of this year's board are on the spectrum. There were also way more more applicants than the number of positions on the board. There will of course be need for even more people for the various committees that we will be forming for the different tasks; recruitment efforts begin in fall. The intern positions will be advertised in the first two weeks in fall as well. What was encouraging about the high number of applicants is that it seems to indicate a higher level of interest and awareness about autism and wanting to do something around it. A bigger org also means a lot more work for the President. In the final analysis and after much discussion with the outgoing President, I found myself in the role of President along with Eli Oh. It will be good to have a "speaking" person as there will be tasks which will be challenging for me to do physically either due to spoken-communication-challenges, sensory-challenges, fine-motor challenges or the oft unexpected vagaries of my particular brand of autism.
I will of course be leading the Autism DeCal class in 2020-21 as well. I absolutely love running this class. The DeCals are student-run, "democratic education", which are faculty sponsored and for academic credit. The Autism DeCal falls under the Psychology Department and is offered for 1 academic unit and runs for 1.5 hours a week for the semester (Psych 98/198 1:54 Autism Spectrum Disorders). Where possible, the Autism DeCal instructors work with the Spectrum Org; students in the class also get a chance for more exposure to Autism by volunteering with Spectrum. As both an autistic and as the Autism DeCal instructor, I have been quite involved with all that Spectrum has been doing since my second semester .
Hoping to build on the momentum in the next year. Especially want to see us expand our volunteering given our university actively encourages and is known for volunteerism and activism. Berkeley is an incubator for social justice change-makers. The Covid-19 threw quite a spanner in the works for Spectrum's biggest fundraiser of the year- our Annual 5K Run / 3K Walk in April (Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month). We keep our fingers crossed for fall and will have to course correct to online alternatives where possible if access to campus is still restricted.
Student Feedback about the Autism DeCal Class of Spring 2020.
This course has been one of the most eye-opening courses I have taken so far.
I wanted to give a big thank you to Hari and all of the facilitators. I try to take a decal every semester... This decal was very well run and educational, I feel like I learned more from it than any other decal I’ve taken at Cal.
After having been in several UC Berkeley psychology courses with Hari, and reading his writing in the Daily Cal and on his blog, I knew I wanted to take this course. I am so grateful to Hari, Devina, Juliana, and Diana for cultivating such a meaningful space for neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals alike—all of whom arrived in the classroom with a different relation to and understanding of autism—that left an enormous impact on me. From organizing thoughtful panels filled with amazing individuals (from college students to parents to professionals...all were remarkable!), to generating thought-provoking discussions on bCourses and in course assignments, to openly welcoming anonymous questions in every course, you all did a tremendous job at facilitating a class environment that was as comfortable as it was informative.... I am so honored to have been a part of this course—logging onto the Zoom calls and seeing each of your faces has been huge in not only my learning, but also my wellness. Each of you makes me feel so inspired, and I am fortunate to have been taught by you.
I enjoyed hearing Hari's inspirational story because it really reflects just how little society knows about ASD...
This course was such a fun addition to my semester,
Another aspect of the course I liked was that it was taught by a person with autism. Hari could teach us about a particular topic while adding in his own experience, which made the class so much more interesting than typical psychology classes.
In this course, I learned many new things and got to see a whole new perspective as I didn’t know much about autism.
For any Cal student, I would definitely recommend this Decal. For me, this course was a blessing and helped me better understand what is autism.
This was the first class discussing disability studies that I’ve taken, and I loved it. I loved how so many facets of autism were covered. I loved the guest speakers, and the fact that autistic voices really shaped this class. The DeCal format made it so that the class was casual in the sense that there was less pressure on grades. Instead, there was emphasis on building community and providing space for discussion, led by facilitators who were knowledgeable, kind, and enthusiastic about the subject matter...Thank you for all of your hard work putting on one of the most memorable classes I will take at Cal and for a wonderful semester despite the unexpected circumstances...I am really thankful to have taken this course and am thankful for all the hard work put in by Hari and the Facilitators and everyone involved from even the beginnings of this course.
It was important for me to learn from Hari’s perspective (and many of the guests invited in) what It felt like to not be able to communicate thoughts and feelings...This was my first decal and this is my last semester at Berkeley. I’m very glad I took this class. I
I think that completing this decal has been deeply beneficial to me...Overall, this decal was a great success. The facilitators were incredibly supportive and passionate about the subject. There was no stress about grades. We were just there together to learn more about autism and the community it encompasses – from those on the spectrum to their friends and family. And we learned about this in the most successful way, through conversations with people whose lives were in some way connected to autism.
I overall enjoyed the course and I hope this class and organization becomes huge. It deserves it entirely.
The course facilitators (Hari particularly) have worked extremely hard to get ASD community members to come share their research and experiences with a curious student body, and for that I am truly thankful…. I will certainly recommend this course to fellow students as ASD is a topic that needs to be shared not just with people interested in the topic, but with anyone passionate about changing the world
First off, I would like to express how grateful I am for this class...This class has opened my eyes to so many things...Hari specifically is one of my favorite things about this class. I am so honored to be in a class led by him. He is such an inspiration to me because I feel that people always want to put others down because they are different. But Hari is such an inspiration because he is pursuing a higher education degree while being nonverbal. It proves that just because someone may be nonverbal does not mean they lack the skills to communicate. Especially now with so much advanced technology, cases such as Hari’s should prove that with the proper tools, support system, and help, almost anything is possible. It is up to us to be more vocal about how we can further support the ASD community and create educational and honest dialogue that correctly re-introduces the public to ASD without creating any negative and untrue stereotypes. I can honestly say this class has changed my life. I feel so much more aware of what is going on around me having to do with ASD as well as any forms of disability. I am more conscious of language I may hear people use that is hurtful and derogatory and I will be able to correct others. I can only hope that with everything I have learned I will be able to inform others and create a less ignorant world. Thank you to Hari and the facilitators for putting together such an amazing course. I am honored to have been able to attend such an amazing class
This class has truly been a joy to take...Thank you so much to Hari for proving that it is possible to overcome many of the obstacles placed in your path...On a final note, I want to say that this class has been extremely eye-opening for me - someone who has had no previous experience with this subject. It has brought awareness to me and I have no doubt it will continue to do so in the future. I truly believe this class is an exceptional method to learning more about the spectrum
One main takeaway I value from this course is the falsity of the terms“higher-functioning” and “lower-functioning”. All of the presentations, readings, and panel demonstrated that these terms are not accurate ways of distinguishing people on the spectrum.We learned that being a person with autism who is non-verbal or who stims a lot, in no way means they are “lower-functioning” than a person with autism who is verbal or sits more still.This fact is something I really value. I think it is applicable to everyone and everything. Intelligence and capability is expressed differently in everyone...Thank you so much for a great semester.
I am so happy I took this decal because I have learned so much and it has opened my eyes to the different intersections of disabilities.
I am truly glad I took this class because I seemed to have a pretty big paradigm shift. ..Another thing I learned from this class was the aspect of communication. Since my brother is verbal, I really only thought that there were two types of autistic people. One that is verbal and one that is nonverbal and unable to communicate at all. However, I learned that communication comes in all shapes and forms.From an iPad to a tapping system, people on the spectrum even if they are nonverbal may be able to communicate. And I think it is really important to empower those on the spectrum and give them the tools to allow them to do so.Instead of thinking that someone is unable to form an opinion for themselves we should try to stay out of their way as possible and just let them be because people on the spectrum are humans too.
Even though I had been exposed to autism my whole life, I feel like this is the first time Ihad my eyes opened.
This was a class that was much more eye opening than I initially thought it would be. As someone who did not have any prior knowledge about autism, I walked into my first class very clueless and unsure of what to expect. I am happy to say that by the end of the semester, I have learned a lot more about autism and can appreciate it much better...Overall, this was an amazing experience and I am glad that I decided to sign up for this class!
Thank you again for organizing such a great course and guide me through this wonderful journey to a new world! Hope I could make my contribution to help people with
ASD enjoy a better life in the future
Having Hari as an instructor added to the course as someone with Autism; his personal experience and anecdotes personalized each lecture. .. I would gladly recommend this course to friends in the future .. I hope this course continues to grow in popularity as it has a lot of insight to offer our Cal community
The faces of autism
It’s serendipitous that my last column falls in April, which just happens to be Autism Awareness Month.
It’s promising to see events that raise awareness about autism, such as the annual 3K walk organized by Spectrum: Autism at Cal. But despite these causes, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding this diagnosis. And as a young autistic, I’ve faced a mess of this autism confusion.
UC Berkeley’s Disabled Students’ Program has a weekly social group for autistics. I’m slowly trying to type on my iPad and keep up with the much quicker conversational flow of some of my fellow autistics. On many fronts, their issues seem quite different from mine. We all have the same diagnosis, but we are so different from one another — it makes me wonder how all of us can expect to have similar experiences.
Autism is a huge spectrum. At one end of the spectrum are the very verbal and very functional autistics, to the point where they are almost indistinguishable from their typical peers. At the other end are those who are severely affected by social language ability, intellectual ability and functional skills.
Then there are the gifted savants — the autistic geniuses. These are people such as Stephen Wiltshire, who can reproduce entire cityscapes after just seeing them for a few minutes from the air.
As a result, autism has become highly romanticized. Autistics are thought to be geniuses like Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. In our technological age, the leading stereotype of the autistic is the socially awkward but wealthy Silicon Valley techie, which is a far cry from the remaining thousands.
There are also a bunch of comorbidities that many of us autistics have, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, sensory dysregulation and anxiety. Any combination of these disorders can make our experiences all the more different from other people on the autism spectrum.
When it comes to the college-going, nonverbal, typer-communicating autistics such as David Teplitz and me, the diagnosis just gets “curiouser and curiouser,” as Lewis Carroll’s Alice would say. We are developmentally all over the place in almost every aspect of our lives. So where do we fit in on this giant spectrum?
I’ve found that this confusion or misunderstanding of autism means that people don’t know what to do with us or how to act around us. Autism is kind of like the elephant in the room. The reaction is sometimes a nervous, “Oh, I’m sorry you have autism,” which does not make for a good conversation starter. As a result, many autistics choose not to divulge their diagnosis if their symptoms are mild or not obvious. It’s just too difficult.
This confusion has also led some people to misuse the autism label in everyday life. The character of Larry David in the TV series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” lies about having Asperger’s (which is now included in autism) to excuse his rude behavior to his peers. But such false impersonations are a real disservice to the autistic community.
There are very real societal consequences as a result of this very broad spectrum. We are thrown into this big bucket of autism, but it’s almost impossible to arrive at a one-size-fits-all solution. Treatment options are all the more difficult and complex because each autistic is different.
The irony of this huge bucket is that even medical doctors are confused and attribute treatable causes to autism. When I got agitated in my pediatrician’s office as a child, she assumed that it was because of autism and called for the ambulance to sedate me. Luckily, the emergency doctor thought to check my ear and realized that I actually had an ear infection.
Community support can be hard to access as well. Programs seem to have specific profiles of autism in mind and often prefer the easier cases. As a result, families and individuals with more significant challenges may face a dearth of support staff and services.
Thankfully, there is a lot of research being done on the biology of autism. While there has been some success, the road to applicable and specific solutions is a long way away.
In the meantime, we on the spectrum muddle our way through life and hold our collective breath, waiting for those breakthroughs that we desperately need.
