The first thing that comes to mind when I am asked about a time I have had to be open-minded and persevere would be last summer when I spent a week in-patient in the mental health area of the local hospital. This experience was extremely isolating to me because while I was surrounded by 22 other patients and at least 15 workers I felt very alone. Just an hour before I went home the intern took me into the offices to inform me that I have autism. While not really a big shock to me, I’ve known since I was about 10 although never formally diagnosed as my mom would just brush it off, it gave me the opportunity to realize there is a reason that I have behaved in a non-typical way.
During my time in the hospital I was required to interact with others …show more content…
Public schools can be a living nightmare for students on the autism spectrum. Almost daily at the school that I attended from kindergarten through my sophomore year of high school the kids would laugh at me behind my back because I didn’t understand what they meant by various figurative things. I occasionally will think back on different situations and realize that even their jokes that I didn’t understand at the time were also ways of them making fun of me in front of my face. One part of autism is echolalia, the repetition of words and phrases, that was also a way for them to make fun of me. I don’t remember the echolalia being too bad when I wasn’t stressed but they would get me to say things and repeat them a lot. It’s like having a song stuck in your head but instead of it only being in your head you verbalize it as well. At home it was just as bad when my family was around. While my mom had gotten used to all the little things, my brothers and other family members weren’t around enough to see all the things, so they thought that was a reason to call me names. I felt super isolated even within my family because I would be called bratty, whiny, cry baby, and occasionally retarded. I still don’t know if at any point they were joking about any of it because I don’t always understand unless I am …show more content…
While they still don’t fully understand it has allowed me to learn more about myself. I am now able to understand and explain why things affect me the way that they do. I have been discussing these things with my faculty advisor leading the trip to write out a list of things that affect me, as well as, how I am affected, and what I do about it. The one thing I am thankful for with my study abroad program is that I am going on a faculty led trip and will be with a few people that I already am acquainted with. While I know that I will need to persevere when things become too much and be open minded to the culture I feel that I will be well prepared for anything during my time in
During my time in the hospital I was required to interact with others …show more content…
Public schools can be a living nightmare for students on the autism spectrum. Almost daily at the school that I attended from kindergarten through my sophomore year of high school the kids would laugh at me behind my back because I didn’t understand what they meant by various figurative things. I occasionally will think back on different situations and realize that even their jokes that I didn’t understand at the time were also ways of them making fun of me in front of my face. One part of autism is echolalia, the repetition of words and phrases, that was also a way for them to make fun of me. I don’t remember the echolalia being too bad when I wasn’t stressed but they would get me to say things and repeat them a lot. It’s like having a song stuck in your head but instead of it only being in your head you verbalize it as well. At home it was just as bad when my family was around. While my mom had gotten used to all the little things, my brothers and other family members weren’t around enough to see all the things, so they thought that was a reason to call me names. I felt super isolated even within my family because I would be called bratty, whiny, cry baby, and occasionally retarded. I still don’t know if at any point they were joking about any of it because I don’t always understand unless I am …show more content…
While they still don’t fully understand it has allowed me to learn more about myself. I am now able to understand and explain why things affect me the way that they do. I have been discussing these things with my faculty advisor leading the trip to write out a list of things that affect me, as well as, how I am affected, and what I do about it. The one thing I am thankful for with my study abroad program is that I am going on a faculty led trip and will be with a few people that I already am acquainted with. While I know that I will need to persevere when things become too much and be open minded to the culture I feel that I will be well prepared for anything during my time in