Neurotransmitters Flow in this Autism Mind

Autistic Special Interests

Sharing a student presentation from my 1:54 Autism class on autistic special interests.

Thank you Jay Maytorena, Jordan Bermender, Myr Le, Sophia Zaleski

Here is the youtube link https://youtu.be/IKKFjf8sNT8 & here are the slides below

Forced from Home, Refugees & Autism

Sharing a student presentation from my 1:54 Autism class on a very important topic. We hear about the millions of refugees that are displaced the world over due to conflicts and other crisis. What we don't realize is that many could be autistic (or have other disabilities), which means the trauma of displacement, loss and war compounds many of the issues of autism.

Thank you Emma Zhao and Tiffy Barlow for an thoughtful and insightful presentation

Here is the youtube link of the presentation https://youtu.be/GPJ2EwkZAaU

Slides are below.

Syria is a Middle Eastern country that shares borders with several nations, including Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey (Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], 2021). Syria gained independence from the French in 1945 and has undergone political turmoil since. Syria’s official language is Arabic and is home to just under 20 million people, 87% of which are Muslim (CIA, 2021).

The Syrian crisis emerged due to various factors. We do know that there was a single event that lit the spark.

A group of citizens were violently beat after participating in graffiti, major protests formed in reaction and escalated into armed force from the Syrian government and the establishment of rebel groups to combat them (Musarurwa & Kaye, 2017).

Syria was home to a well-established educational system and a wealth of resources pre-crisis, but daily life for its citizens was quickly derailed by the conflict.

Despite extensive coverage via various media outlets regarding the Syrian crisis, the impact of the crisis on refugees is an understudied topic. According to statistics published by UNHCR, “At the end of 2018, Syrians still made up the largest forcibly displaced population”.
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The Syrian crisis has produced trauma in the form of violence, death, execution, torture, and displacement, which negatively impacts the mental health of Syrians

Syrian refugees experienced tensions between gratefulness in being afforded a safe enriching home and challenges with the process of resettlement that posed unique stressors to their overall wellbeing.

Syrian refugee children are faced with the challenge of adjusting to the social and cultural atmosphere of their new homes

Refugee children will experience many challenges.

“The Syrian kids went through real fear from the war. Professionals who work autistic children who have experienced the terrors of war need to consider this factor.

they should recognize that the kids are not only autistic, they also experienced atrocities and war.

PTSD in children can manifest like aggravated behavior or increased fear on a day to day basis. For autistic children, they may have also suffered as their parents lost some resources like supports and services during wartime.

Some autistic children who have communication barriers cannot even express their fear to heal from it. This can mask their fears, inner emotions, and complex feelings.

these emotions must be processed for a child to function healthily. Professionals are now looking to address the war for autistic Syrian kids, but this is an area of continued need

Even relocation is difficult

Some refugee children will experience learning and understanding new language, like English. An autism diagnosis typically contributes to a unique learning profile, which can make it hard to keep pace with their peers. Being in an entirely new country is a huge adjustment, and can leave these kids feeling alien and misunderstood.

Western models emphasizes trauma labels, which is often incompatible with and actually undermines the resilience that many refugee populations display.

Even when refugees acknowledge their trauma, they will typically reject the notion that this trauma overshadows their experiences or prevents them from contributing to society.

Service providers need to be more aware of this trauma narrative and explore the needs of refugees on an individual basis instead of overgeneralizing the traditional western mental health model

“refugee people within a deficit or pathology framework”

Promote flexibility & incorporate coping techniques rooted in cultural/religious practices. We can capitalize on “existing strengths (e.g., support of family and community) and existing coping strategies (e.g., meditation or singing songs)

However, clinicians in particular should also be recognize of the limits in their cultural knowledge through embracing cultural humility,

War can adversely impact autistic children who have social communication or cognitive impairments, which can lead to exacerbated responses to crisis conditions.

In fact, “prolonged exposure to extreme trauma, stress, and uncertainty has significant impacts on mental health outcomes for all children and adolescents. Toxic stress has been found to impact neurological functioning and disrupt brain development.

This obviously will intersect with the experiences of children on the autism spectrum since autism is a neurodevelopmental condition.

We also know that when parents receive their child’s autism diagnosis, they often experiencing intense emotions, both positive and negative. However, parents who are refugees will face with war, resettlement, and seeking asylum.

For example, in canada

Syrian refugee parents found they were limited by financial capacity, linguistic capacity, awareness of a new country’s health and educational systems, and “fear of deportation”

As a result, refugee children are more likely to be diagnosed later in development and not receive early intervention

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However, based on anecdotes from the study from a young mother Jenny, with a 5-year old son diagnosed with ASD,

Relocating was still a largely positive experience Jenny and her family faced with perceptions of autism in Syria and Lebanon. In fact, Jenny recalled that her children had negative societal experiences, “They[‘re] dealt with in a very negative way. They’re not accepted in the society” (00:53:22).”

their experiences with autism in Syria and Lebanon were characterized by discrimination, autism not being understood, their needs not being met, and a lack of accessibility to initiate services. She thinks her children are now “ happier” (00:45:56) being away from the discrimination that they experienced in Syria and Lebanon.

Research suggests differences in the diagnostic understanding, support acquisition, and service use among diverse, minority, and/or migrant populations

Although there are many nuances to understand what service and support mean, because they are based in context, we’re going to describe it as a method of providing help where professionals work directly with children or families

On the other hand, supports are typically provided to child or family so that the clinically impacted person can continue to help themselves

The two work hand in hand.

Family, social, and community supports are pivotal to how Syrian refugee parents experienced ease or difficulty in their resettlement, which impacts their adjustment process.

Research has shown that increasing relational supports to incoming refugees can bolster their resettlement experience and enhance their support and service acquisition through obtaining information from other

Est. 75 million people with ASD according to CDC

The issue is often silenced but it affects a massive group of people

Today we focused on Syria, but as we all know, there are many refugees now coming out of Ukraine. We can only wait to hear about how children, parents, people of color, and people with disabilities fare during a time of crisis. But for now, we encourage everybody to support the refugees to get to safety as soon as possible!

Technology Needs

More Art from students in my 1:54 Autism Class.

Autism in the Workplace

Sharing Art made by students in my 1:54 Autism Class. Much work in needed on the employment front for autistics.

Image Credit: Kalina Elliot.

Text says "Autism in the Workplace"

We're not broken - Eric Garcia

Got interviewed for this for this book by Eric Garcia. Some excerpts where I'm mentioned are below.

I was again referenced in the context of this book

Time Magazine Article, 8/27/21

The Next Big Idea Club 9/14/21
The Art of Autism 1/8/22
Webinar: Livermore Public Library, 3/7/22 (start time 24:11)

Excerpts from the book

Tweet 4/2/23

Hearing from Former Students

A blast from last semester

Hey Hari,

I just heard your voice 'in the wild' and it reminded me of you. I hope you're doing well.

I took your class last semester and I wanted to thank you again for how great it was -- it really helped put me in touch with my own autism, which I'm only realizing much later. It was really eye-opening and I owe you that.

The true ratio

Sharing art from students in my 1:54 Autism Class

Image Credit Emma Zhao

Text on image says:

- Men are 4x more likely to be diagnosed with ASD than women

- the true ration is very different. Women with autism tend to present in ways unlike men, but the modern diagnostic model of autism is based on males.

Patience

Sharing Art made by students in my 1:54 Autism Class.

Image Credit: Tiffany Brailow

Text on image says

Autism Spectrum Disorder

What we learned today

There are many new technologies that are made to assist non-speaking autistics (such as text to speech programs)
Finding meaningful work in the workforce as a person on the spectrum is sometimes hard but its still achievable!
Being patient with finding work as someone on the spectrum is key!

Women and Autism

Student presentation from my 1:54 Autism Spectrum Class on Women & Autism

Here is the youtube link https://youtu.be/xLW6au-_dLQ

The other conditions can come from girls trying to mask or fit in and not understanding why they are different from neurotypical girls or classmates, which can be exhausting and depressing for some. In addition, they may be made fun of for expressing themselves differently.

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ADHD is often treated with medications, while autism isn’t directly treated with medication. Certain behaviors like focusing may be treated with medication, but there is a range of other treatment options and accommodations that girls with autism may not have access to if they are misdiagnosed.

Another misdiagnosis is OCD. there are many similarities between how ASD and OCD present, but there are differences in how OCD symptoms are treated through therapy or other treatments. Women with ASD may also have OCD, but without a distinction made in diagnosis, they, again, may not have access to the right accommodations.

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Women who are diagnosed later in life may face more challenges in society as they were not given early support during fundamental social interactions in school, and may have never felt accepted by friends or peers because they felt different or were even made fun of for differences they couldn’t identify. These can have long lasting effects on someone’s self esteem or the way they navigate social interactions or build relationships with people or children if they have children eventually.

Some girls and women with autism experience being diagnosed multiple times by different providers who are not able to give them an accurate diagnosis. This shuffling and lack of consistency can also be harmful to girls who are younger and still developing their personalities and interests.

The police investigated but did not press charges, which is the most common outcome when a person with intellectual disabilities is raped. The regional center did not offer any supports. Later they filed a lawsuit but due to privacy laws, the investigator could not test the caregiving facility workers for STDs.

“That’s why it’s so important to catch that one person and stop that multiplier effect. But with a population that is so vulnerable and cannot communicate, everything is just “suspected.” You can change all the laws you want but serial abusers will not show up in criminal background checks because accusations don’t stick.”

Difficulties in communicating & interacting, including not understanding social cues and responding in ways that could be perceived as odd or disrespectful unintentionally could lead to situations where the person gets into a dangerous or victimizing situation. Compliance behaviors taught from an early age make autistic individual less likely to resist an offender’s demands or communicate that they have been victimized. They may not realize that the situation was considered a crime.