
Autism Awareness Month: Three things you should know about Autism
“Oh yeah! My [insert family member, friend of a friend, or child]’s has Autism!”
Usually some variation of this sentence is stated when a person talks with me about being a music therapist and asking what populations I work with. Virtually everyone knows someone with Autism, and it’s often a direct family member. Most people are able to give a quick, generic definition of autism. With this in mind, awareness is not needed. We know that Autism exists. We have heard the term over and over. We know, live with, and encounter persons with Autism daily. What we need is acceptance: Acceptance of the variety of ways autism can manifest itself; acceptance of the obstacles it presents for persons with autism; acceptance of persons with autism in our schools and workplaces and public life, so that they can participate more fully in our world.
The American Psychiatric Associations’ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), defines Autism Spectrum Disorder as having communication impairments, restricted/repetitive patterns of behaviors that often occur in the early developmental period of one’s life. Autism is an umbrella term that covers numerous specific diagnoses including Asperger’s, Sensory Processing Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, etc. Due to the broad range of autism (and we haven’t even stepped into the possibility of dual diagnosis), there are many assumptions and stereotypes related to this population. Here are three examples:
“People with autism are intellectually disabled.”
“Autism is simply laziness/bad parenting”
“They will never live a successful/independent life”
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