I am very excited about my social impact initiative, Early Autism Awareness in the Community. There are several wonderful local and national groups promoting Autism awareness such as Autism Speaks; Autism York and ASERT. In addition, there are many resources on-line and in the community and I have collected many of these resources here on this site for you. Through my platform, I would like to educate new parents on the early signs of Autism. Early intervention is vital, because generally, the earlier the intervention, the better the outcome for the autistic individual and, as a result, for the individual’s family. The most desirable outcome would include independent adult living and gainful employment.
It was easy for me to choose my social impact focus, one very close to my heart, because my cousin, Jay, was diagnosed on the autism spectrum when I was very young. As a result, I was able to learn about autism and its effects firsthand. Jay was diagnosed at the age of three in 1997, a very young age for diagnosis at that time. Over the years, I watched as my aunt and uncle were tireless advocates for him, pushing for school and community services, and making certain he received early treatment. Through their efforts and the efforts of many teachers, therapist and aides, Jay is now twenty-one years old and is employed as a groundskeeper. I recently had the opportunity to interview my cousin Jay about his daily routine and disability.
Abby: Can you tell me about your jobs?
Jay: I work at the Y; we do groundskeeping and landscaping. We sweep the gyms. I have a nice boss..who lets me adjust my times if I need to. It’s a nice place to work. My side job is working on people’s yards. I clean out the leaves.
Abby: Do you have a favorite job, Jay?
Jay: Maybe raking leaves and I like mowing grass – it’s easier than raking leaves.
Abby: Are you good at mowing grass?
Jay: Yeah, I think I’m pretty good. It’s easier to do at the Y than at someone’s house.
Abby: How many jobs do you have?
Jay: I have three jobs. I clean a place for a guy from my church once a week. It’s an office.
Abby: How did you get your jobs?
Jay: I got the jobs through my school. A director of co-op set it up and took me to the interview. I volunteered there for a month and he liked my work so he decided to pay me.
Abby: Did you have to do any training for your jobs, Jay?
Jay: He showed me what to do…how to do the floors and vacuum. Other than that, I got the hang of it myself. I knew how to do the lawn work
Abby: What is your favorite high school memory?
Jay: That’s a tough question. Going on a field trip to Hershey Park and riding the roller coasters a few years ago. Roller coasters are fast and nice. I rode with one of the teachers.
Abby: Who helped you out the most in High School?
Jay: My parents and my aide in high school.
Abby: What are your hobbies?
Jay: I like to hike; hike the outdoors; camp; swim. I wouldn’t mind trying some new activities like bike riding or canoeing. I like to swim depending on the weather. I like the outdoors rather than indoors depending on the weather
Abby: Who is one famous person you would like to meet?
Jay: Randy Owens from the group Alabama or Alan Jackson – I wouldn’t mind meeting him
Abby: Can you tell me about your typical day?
Jay: I typically get up – depends on the time of year- in the winter, when I go up I get up about 6-7:30am. I get up and brush my teeth, eat breakfast and do the stuff you usually do in the morning. I do it myself unless Mom has to help me get out of bed. When it’s cold – I’m not the biggest fan of the cold. I go to work at 8:30am. I’ll arrive sometimes a few minutes late but no-one says anything. In the afternoon, I play some basketball. I go home about 2-4:30pm. When I get home I do work around the house then we eat dinner about 6:30 and after that I am done for the day.
Abby: What do you do after dinner?
Jay: I relax and listen to music. I listen to country music; Christian contemporary; rap; pop and hip hop. I’m listening to new types of music now. My most favorite genre is country.
Abby: Name one fear that you have conquered?
Jay: Dogs…I used to be afraid of dogs. Ten or eleven years ago, there were big dogs at your house and Aunt Mary’s and I was afraid they would come out and eat me. I was short for my height and I was afraid of them but over time, I had less fear of dogs because they typically won’t hurt me but strange dogs that you don’t know might. I think that petting the dogs helped me get over my fear.
Abby: I understand that you have a disability – can you tell me about it and how it affects your life?
Jay: I can walk – I’m not in a wheel chair! You don’t see me wheeling around the farm. I can walk. It affects me because I get nervous about certain things and like to do certain things more than other people. Like swimming.
Abby: Do you know the name of your disability?
Jay: Well it’s Asperger’s syndrome – it’s a form of autism. There are people out there worse than I am. When I was in Florida at a resort, I saw some kids that looked like they were from an autism class and some of them had an aide with them. They were shaking and couldn’t talk that well. Even at our high school, there was a class of students with disabilities.
Abby: Do you think that Asperger’s affects your brain.
Jay: Well it does make you think about things a little differently. Like when people post their property – I don’t like this. (trespassing)
Abby: Who helps you the most?
Jay: My mom or dad. They get things ready and take me places.
Abby: Have you ever been to any camps with people that have disabilities?
Jay: Yes – Camp Nuhop…out in Ohio…with other kids with disabilities. Some are more worse off than others. Some kids were even learning how to drive, which I hope to do someday. We go to different places each year – one year we went to the Smokies; another year we went to the Adirondacks.
Abby: Jay, what do you do at these camps?
Jay: Talk with the other kids and counselors; eat. There are two counselors to 7-8 kids. White water rafting; swimming; hiking; climbing.
Abby: What other things do you hope to do other than drive? (in the future)
Jay: To live somewhere by myself. Somewhere warm …I am not a cold weather person.
Abby: What else do you want people to know about you, Jay?
Jay: Certain things make me unique.
Abby: What kind of things?
Jay: I like to hike and do different activities and stuff. I wouldn’t mind traveling and seeing different sites. I like different music.
Though Jay is employed and functions semi-independently, there is no cure for autism spectrum disorders. His life involves many ups and downs for him and for his family. Just recently, while enjoying one of his favorite hobbies, camping with his father, Jay took a walk. He did not return. A search and rescue operation had to be initiated to find him. This was a very scary time for Jay and his family. Here is what Jay had to say about this event.
Abby: Has anything scary happened to you before? In the last few months?
Jay: On the flight home from Colorado, I was nervous when the plane started hitting turbulence. I also got lost in the woods a few months ago.
Abby: Can you tell me a little about it?
Jay: Well, I went out on a hike on a cold, rainy evening and went into the woods. That was scary – I was more scared about my dad being out in the woods looking for me than I was for myself. He called 911. I was trying to find my way back but it was getting too dark. I figured I wouldn’t be able to get back. So I ran around and thought I heard the highway. I turned around and went back up the hill. I stayed there and was praying to God and hoping everything was okay. I …. and jumped up and jogged in place. (to keep warm) It was the longest night of my life. Then I saw light and figured it was morning and then finally I walked my way out (to the highway) and saw a lady driving. I waved her down. She took me up to the ranger station –she was one of the wives of the rangers. There were fire rangers; mom and dad were there. They had food for me. I got biscuits from Sheetz. My mom and dad hugged me – they were concerned about me. It was scary. Now we have a GPS and Mom said that I should have had my phone with me but I didn’t know I was going to get lost. I leaned to be more prepared – carry your phone and backpack if you are not familiar with the area. Maybe I should not have went so far because it was cloudy and rainy. It was hard to see and I was only about one mile from the cabin.
Abby: Jay, if this happened to someone else with a disability, what would you tell them.
Jay: Be more prepared or have more knowledge…take your cell phone with you.
Abby: Thank you for answering all the questions!
People with autism sometimes think or act differently than others would act. For Jay, these behaviors can interfere with his jobs and can occasionally require additional supervision or reminders about what behavior is acceptable.
Abby: What do you do differently than other people?
Jake: Touch different surfaces and dump water over my head – this may be a little different than other people. It’s harder to get up than other people my age. It’s hard to get up but I’m trying to do better.
Abby: Do you think that you do things and can’t stop doing them?
Jay: Yes – I feel the hot pavement on a hot summer day and it’s hard for me to stop doing this. I like to have things done a certain way.
For Jay, his diagnosis came as the result of observations made by his preschool teachers. However, many children do not attend preschool or larger group day care centers. My platform focuses on Mommy and me playgrounds and in-home day cares, as there are more than 120 in-home daycares and several playgroups throughout central Pennsylvania. These facilities may not have the training or resources to identify early autism symptoms compared to large child care centers, which could delay intervention for autistic children. Since early intervention is critical, I have created a fact sheet with a short checklist that could help parents and caregivers identify any early autism warning signs. Parents could then take this information to their health care providers to discuss further treatment and intervention techniques . Through proper education, parents can take advantage of available resources as early as possible and thus increase their child’s chances of success throughout life.
