I got to learn how to milk a cow at a dairy farm on the outskirts of Chennai. How about that!!
It felt a bit strange but some milk did squirt out.
I'm hanging out with a 1 month old calf named Raja.
Topped off with some tasty Nongu's
Presenting at SCAN, India
Presenting on Autism @SCAN - Special Child Assistance Network, Vidya Sagar School, Chennai. Over 100 parents and educators in attendance. So nice to meet you all. Also got meet a few families a few days later at my grandparents' place.
Scan Q and A 5/26/18
Q. Could you list 3 most important things in a student-teacher relationship from your experience?.
A. 1. Respect for me as an individual. Eg: don’t discuss me in front of me to others as though I don’t understand anything.
2. Kindness and understanding of my issues, rather than blame.
3. Inclusion wherever possible.
Q. If you were put back some years to your 12th year, what would it be you wanted to be different from the center, school, teacher you were going then to learn?.
A. Communication had revealed that I had a bright mind and had a desire to learn by accessing mainstream education.
The issue was that for years, the professionals had written me off and professional ego would not allow them to change their minds.
Given that our understanding of autism is an evolving field, they should have kept an open mind to possibilities and worked with me to help me succeed inside the schooling system instead of outright rejection of requests for at least partial mainstreaming.
Q. How much do you think it is about play, and how much about actual therapy learning practicals that makes it work for you?. Still on your 12th year.
A. You can’t distinguish one from the other really.
Q. How did your basic academic learning happen, especially as you have mentioned that you learned typing only at age twelve?.
A. Who says I was not learning. I was very much learning through inference and observation. I just was not getting formal education. It was just a matter of application to academics.
If you think about it, give the crazy amount of challenges we have, and all the unpredictability of our lives, academics is relatively easier to deal with, as it is logical, pattern-based, and more predictable. So academics actually came naturally and easily.
For example, when I joined the charter school, I’d tested at 12th grade math, but started with the 6th-grade math curriculum as that covers all the elementary math. My folks wanted to make sure my fundamentals were good before rushing into advanced math.
I quickly worked through 6th to 8th grade math and was ready in time for 9th grade high school math, at which time I kept pace with what my typical peers were doing.
I was just able to join in at grade level for the other subjects. Luckily I joined mainstream academics in 7th to 8th grade, so had some time to catch up before high school. High school or 9th grade is where academics get serious in the U S.
The paradox is that I am a pretty fast learner but a slow typer. So it takes me a long time to type out responses, though I may already know the answers in my mind. So I only do a few example math problems, instead of every single problem in the chapter.
Since I have no handwriting skills I have been using a math font software to help me form equations etc. For other subjects, I’ve used a word processing software.
Q. what did you think it would take for you and others in similar position, to lead a fully independent life.? Is it possible, and do you wish for it?.
A. A fully functional, productive independent life is, of course, the dream for all of us, disabled or not.
Every morning, I pray for three things. Speech, Emotion Regulation, and Body Regulation.
If I could get a handle on these three issues, I would be far along in terms of independence, functionality, and productivity.
But if a person is in a wheelchair, you don’t just expect them to get up and run a marathon.
Similarly, I can’t do anything about disability issues that are not under my volitional control.
I can’t stop all areas of my life in the meantime while I wait for solutions.
Until solutions come along, I am going to need and will use all the help and support I can to have as productive a life as I can.
In fact, I want to be part of the solution process that helps many like me.
Q. Can you make out what another non- verbal autistic child is trying to communicate?.
A. There are often subtle but observable patterns in Body language and behaviors that indicate what the child is communicating.
The short answer is often but not always.
Q. Is the world inside an autistic person same as any other, ie with dreams and goals? Or is that too much of a generalization?.
A.The latter.
Q. Autistic persons are nowadays being sent to assisted living conditions at a young age, do you think that its fair?. What would you advice to such parents?.
A.I think I kind of addressed this in the, Don’t give up slide.
Totally not fair.
Remember, as parents, you are the only ones who have a vested interest in our improvement. No one else cares or is going to put the same level of passion and commitment. We did not ask for this disability and are utterly dependent on you to try your best to put us on a path to a productive and meaningful life.
Q. Would it be a fair comment that autistic persons seem more at peace with themselves, have a detached view in a materialistic world and are internally quite ‘zen’ like?.
A.Depends.
For instance, the observable zen state could also be a state of apathy or indifference, which is a symptom of depression. You dont care anymore and so blindly go along. Ironically, you are called very compliant and all programs like such kids.
On the other hand, our external world is confusing and overwhelming and so we try to shut it out through internal introspection as a coping mechanism. This happily leads us to a zen-like state.
Q. What is the one thing, you would like to change in the world today, if you had the power?.
A.Kindness is in short supply. I would like folks to be more kind and show compassion.
Q. Does love and marriage fit in your scheme for your life?.
A.Of course, one dearly holds out that hope.
Q. Is stimming a habit, play, stress release, due to boredom? Is it good to block it?.
A.Stims are due to all of above and serve as a coping mechanism for dealing with our sensory environment.
Please also read the article I wrote in the daily cal titled sensory walkabout.
Stims look socially inappropriate, so try to teach an appropriate looking alternative behavior where possible
Opinion Column: The Person Inside
My weekly column "The Person Inside" (total of 10 articles) was published on Thursdays both in Print and Online and spoke of my lived experiences with Autism.
A full list of the articles in this series is below.
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0. Introducing the Daily Cal Opinion Columnists
In this introductory video, the other opinion columnists and I explain what our columns are about. My introduction starts at 3:19
Introducing the Daily Cal Opinion Columnists
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1. Communication Conundrum
I speak on the importance of communication and presuming competence
2. NonVerbal and College Bound
I ask what does it take for a non-speaking autistic like me to access higher education.
3. Sensory Walkabout.
I write about the way many of us autistics experience our environment in quite a different and quite an 'extra-ordinary' way.
4. The Women in My Life
A tribute to the women in my life who gave that extra helping hand.
5. First Transitions
I explain the rigidity and difficulty with transitions that can be characteristics of autism
6. Stephen Hawking: Inspiration and Aspiration
Along with the world, I mourned the passing of Dr. Stephen Hawking. A tribute and how he influenced my life.
7. The Access Ramp to Volunteering
Lives whether abled or (dis)abled have to be worth living. The importance of volunteering vs just being the recipient of volunteering.
8. Compulsion Complexity
I explain the phenomenon of obsessive-compulsive and repetitive behaviors that can often accompany autism.
9. O Body, Where Art Thou?
The lack of Body Awareness is a little known phenomenon in autism. I attempt to explain the neuroscience.
10. The Faces of Autism
If you meet one person with autism, you have met just one person with autism. The same diagnosis can have a thousand faces.
The Faces of Autism
If you meet one person with autism, you have met just one person with autism. The same diagnosis can have a thousand faces.
This is the last of my series of 10 articles for my weekly opinion column "The Person Inside" for the Daily Californian.
O Body, Where Art Thou?
The lack of Body Awareness is a little known phenomenon in autism. I attempt to explain the neuroscience.
This is the ninth of my series of 10 articles for my weekly opinion column "The Person Inside" for the Daily Californian.
Compulsion Complexity
In the Daily Cal 2 years back.
I explain the phenomenon of obsessive-compulsive and repetitive behaviors that can often accompany autism.
This is the eighth of my series of 10 articles for my weekly opinion column "The Person Inside" for the Daily Californian.
Stephen Hawking: Inspiration and Aspiration
In the Daily Californian
Stephen Hawking: Inspiration and Aspiration.
Along with the world, I mourned the passing of Dr. Stephen Hawking. A tribute and how he influenced my life.
This is the sixth of my series of 10 articles for my weekly opinion column "The Person Inside" for the Daily Californian.
=======
Headline: Stephen Hawking: Inspiration and aspiration
It made me wonder: What if Hawking had been born 40 years earlier, when such technology was not available? His brilliant mind and his contributions would be lost to the world. Technology really has been a blessing in disguise for him and many others like me who have no other avenue of communication.
I find it really confusing at times. It can be a lesson in frustration. A brilliant mind such as Hawking’s must have had thoughts churning out faster than the physical movement of his cheek muscle. To be able to achieve Hawking’s level of output through a communication device at the rate of just four words a minute is for me the epitome of perseverance, dedication and effort.
The world lost a brilliant mind last week in Stephen Hawking. He has been a hero and inspiration to me ever since I was 14 years old.
I had just newly emerged as a typer-communicator, and I was finally getting access to mainstream education through a charter school. What I saw on TV was an individual in a wheelchair and pretty severely affected by his disability.
But he was communicating, and the words being spoken from his device were on a different level and on a different plane. He was oozing knowledge.
Later into the TV program, I learned that he was the Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant minds of our time after Albert Einstein.
I remember being perplexed and quite curious as to how he managed to communicate despite the significant challenges posed by his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. I really wanted to learn more about his communication system. After all, communication is so fundamental to our functioning in society, and it is an area that we nonspeakers struggle with.
Hawking had completely lost his voice by 1985 and had to rely on a series of software systems to help him communicate. His initial system involved a hand switch, and his later system involved an infrared switch that detected cheek twitches, which allowed him to select words and letters as they scrolled by on screen. He typed at approximately 15 words a minute with the initial system and four words a minute with the latter system.
I am constantly struck by the sheer willpower that would be required to control a dysfunctional body to get any sort of output, let alone at the quality he was able to produce.
“The human race was so puny compared to the universe that being disabled is not of much cosmic significance,” Hawking said in a Q&A session on his website.
That really helped put things in perspective for nonspeaking individuals like me. He literally reached out into the infinity of space in his field of cosmology.
As a nonspeaking individual, I experience every day how frustratingly slow it is to type with my sensorily dysregulated body. Math and science equations are especially hard, as I have to switch between a word processor and a math font software called MathType just to complete one problem.
My mind was just boggled at the thought — this is the system he has used to write his books, create TV shows, give speeches, attend conferences and do his amazing scientific work. On TV shows, his voice output appeared to be smooth and fluent only because he had prepared a speech ahead of time. At live conferences, it would take him significantly longer to respond to a question.
Life is a challenge, and he met it full on.
He inspired differently abled and nonspeaking folks like me to aspire to reach beyond our bodily human limitations as well as to try to achieve much much more than the lowest expectations that society places on us.
While I greatly admire Hawking, his illness came about slowly with age, so he had time to establish his brilliance and intellect. Nonverbal individuals like me, on the other hand, struggle to prove our cognitive abilities as children with communication challenges.
Regardless, the fact that Hawking was able to accomplish so much despite his significant communication challenges encouraged me to think that perhaps nontraditional paths and careers are a possibility for nonspeaking and sensorily disorganized autistic individuals like me.
The lesson I took away from Hawking was that a life of meaning is one where you are productive and contribute to society in whatever small way you can.
Life is a challenge whether or not your physical body imposes limitations. But Hawking’s journey makes me feel like my own autism challenges are less of a limitation. He has inspired me to strive to do some good in my own small way.
Berkeley Time
Opinion Cubicle at The Daily Californian
Fingers strumming, heels clicking
Waiting...
Tomorrow is another column
Edit Meeting is to happen
Rain pelts the roof.
Editors on Berkeley Time
Chai or Kappi?
The South Indian Society at Cal had a Chai Chat.
They sold out. I'd don't drink chai anyway.
BUT
They sold out. I'd don't drink chai anyway.
BUT
The preferred drink for South Indians is coffee (pronounced as Kappi) not tea (Chai)
They should have a "Kappi Chat" next time.
I'm looking forward to the planned "Sambar Social"
Online is a critical disability accommodation for education access
The article below highlights how online and hybrid options are a critical but overlooked disability accommodation that makes education accessible to many in the autistic/disability populations.
https://www.onlinecollegeplan.com/can-someone-with-nonverbal-autism-attend-online-college/
"Communicating their needs is something that almost everyone with ASD struggles with so for someone who doesn’t communicate in a typical way, those struggles can be exacerbated, especially in school. "
"Colleges and universities across the country offer online programs and more and more of them are implementing support programs to help autistic students transition into college life more smoothly and to excel. These two things can come together and absolutely transform the future for students that can’t speak. The minimized interaction in a self-paced distance-learning degree program allows the student to focus on the things that they can do instead of having to consistently confront the things they can’t as they try to navigate their coursework. The support programs in place at many colleges are there for all students whether they are learning on campus or online and they can help to provide proper resources to students that need them, to help them stay motivated and organized, and to be there for the times that college gets to be a bit overwhelming. A nonverbal autistic student would be able to get the full college experience regardless of what method they chose to complete their degree, but it seems that online college would help reduce the stress of going to college and make communication between advisors, professors, and classmates a lot simpler."
Introducing my New Column in The Daily Cal
I'm on the Staff of UC Berkeley's Newspaper The Daily Californian as an Opinion Columnist.
The theme of my Column is "The Person Inside" and will be published on Thursdays
Super Excited at this opportunity.
I'm in the video introducing the Opinion Columnists.
I explain what my column will be about.
Introducing the Daily Cal Opinion Columnists
At The Daily Californian
My weekly column "The Person Inside" (total of 10 articles) was published on Thursdays both in Print and Online and spoke of my lived experiences with Autism.
In this introductory video, the other opinion columnists and I explain what our columns are about. My introduction starts at 3:19
The Opinion Column Team The Daily Cal
With Opinion Editors
I am here and I....
Article written in Jan for the Jeena Yahaan 2018 Brochure.
-----
I am here and I...
I am here and I …am humbled.
What an amazing opportunity it is for me to go to UC Berkeley. Who would have imagined this significantly challenged autistic guy even going to college, let alone the #4 University in the world, a decade back.
I am here and I...am in awe.
I am surrounded by brilliant minds and learning from the best teachers in the world. UC Berkeley is steeped in history, tradition and world-changing accomplishments. Home of 16 elements of the periodic table (including Plutonium and Berkelium), 90 Nobel Laureates, even the site of a Nobel Prize Ceremony at Wheeler Hall.
I am here and I...am inspired.
To protest, question and demand change is an unquestioned prerogative of Berkeley Students.
This is where the Civil Rights Movement and where Free Speech Movement began. Berkeley is also the birthplace of the Disability Rights Movement. Ed Roberts started at UC Berkeley in 1962 even though they had no accommodations for the quite severely-affected-by-polio Roberts at that time. His efforts paved the way for others with physical disabilities and later individuals with developmental disabilities. He started the very first Disabled Students Program in the US right here.
I am here and I.. feel supported.
No one questions my intelligence or my capability to learn in a classroom with 1000 other students. A very significant shift from my special-education days. At Berkeley, I am met with courtesy and respect from Professors and students. Rather than a traditional narrow focus based on the confusing autism diagnosis, accommodations are made to work around my functional limitations and help me be successful. I am having fun too.
I am here and I.. am galvanized.
I took up Psychology as that is the study of the human mind and behavior. I plan to minor in Disability Studies. I want to use the knowledge I gain and channelize it into advocacy and research such that it will contribute towards improving the quality of life for individuals like me. Going to Berkeley will earn me a seat at the table. I can bring about shifts in attitude and change. I can be part of the decision making about us disabled individuals instead of others deciding our fate.
I am here and I... am the tiny minnow.
I would be lying if I said Berkeley was not stressful. Academic expectations are high and the work pace is frantic. The campus is a vast ocean to navigate and I feel like a tiny minnow being swept along. I have felt out of my depth many a time. I would like to do a lot more but I can often feel just overwhelmed.
I am here and I..thank the cosmic hand.
I really wanted Berkeley. Undoubtedly the cosmic hand is at play in my journey though many of the solutions are still shrouded in fog. I can only hope that the fog thins out so the road ahead is clearer. At the end of the day, we all wish to be productive and contributing members of society.
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