April is Autism Awareness Month and the College’s Diversity Coordinator, Monica Medina, shares her experience from a recent Human Library event and suggests some useful resources to help understand the behaviours of those with Autism.
The Human Library is a learning platform and their mission is to improve our understanding of diversity in order to help create more inclusive and cohesive communities across cultural, religious, social and ethnic differences.
In an event with the Human Library a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting David, an exceptional young musician with Autism. For the majority of the session, I hadn’t been exposed to much new learning. I studied Autism as part of my post grad course and worked with a number of students with Autism in both supported and mainstream programmes. However, one thing that struck me in the conversation with David was his assertion about what an amazing ability autists have in their inability to categorise or put things neatly in boxes. This allows for a freedom of thought that can maximise on the power of problem solving, though very often exhausting. I had never thought of it this way and David’s short statement made me think of the experience differently. It wasn’t a huge revelation but through it my perspective shifted: it gave me a new lens.
Similarly, Ethan Lisi talks about the concept of masking in his TedTalk. Essentially, masking involves an autistic person making changes to their behaviour to disguise autistic traits and seem more like their non-autistic peers. I had not heard this term previously, but I imagine it is because most of my reading was based on professional views of how to promote learning and teaching with students on the spectrum, as opposed to the tools autists use to navigate the neurotypical world themselves. Again, Ethan’s small revelation nudged me to empathise more effectively.
Most recently, I was listening to comedian, Hannah Gadsby, on a podcast where she explains her experience with a later-in-life diagnosis of ASD and how for her, neurodiversity is looking at what is interesting rather than what is important (to everyone else). As we celebrate Autism Awareness Month, I thought I’d share these small pieces of learning and encourage you to share your own as well. For additional bite-size information, you can view the Myth Busting booklet produced by Different Minds here.
Within our Student Support Team, we have highly experienced Learning Support Advisors (LSA) who provide learning and teaching related support to students with Additional Support Needs, including Autism. More information on the support available can be found here.