10 Things Faculty Need to Understand About Autism

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I was first diagnosed in my mid-20s, more than 20 years ago. At the time, my diagnosis was Asperger’s syndrome, and I frankly assumed it was a mistake. I thought I knew what Asperger’s looked like, and I was sure the psychologist was wrong. He wasn’t, but it took more than 20 years and an updated diagnosis for me to accept it. In understanding my own autism and figuring out how to work with both my own neurodiversity and that of the students I teach, I’ve learned the following.

Autism truly is a spectrum. Various diagnostic tests and expert resources can identify two dozen or more possible markers of autism. A person on the spectrum may experience few, some or all of them -- and may experience each at different levels of intensity. We often say that if you know one person on the spectrum, you know one person on the spectrum.

Many of us are women and nonbinary people and people of color.

Most adult self-advocates prefer identity-first language Educators, social services professionals and health-care workers are almost always taught to use person-first language (person with autism). In fact, most academic journals won’t publish anything else. If you’re not sure which your student prefers, just ask. If someone prefers person-first, absolutely use it, but please do give us the choice.

Challenging our diagnosis is not OK. Diagnosis challenge happens a lot to neurodiverse people with low support needs (sometimes labeled as “high-functioning,” a term many of us also dislike) and those with few obvious autism markers. But while it’s true that autism impacts some people’s day-to-day functioning more extensively than others, it really does affect each one of us on the spectrum -- every single day. In addition, the more sophisticated the processes and coping mechanisms we’ve developed, the more likely no one around us will even notice our autism. As a result -- and again due to all those stereotypes -- people often don’t accept our diagnosis once they’re told of it. That is a huge problem, not only because of access and equity issues, but also because people with low support needs often question their own diagnoses as well.

Not all of us experience developmental delays. In fact, even most autistic people who are mute or situationally mute don’t have developmental delays. If a student has disclosed their autistic spectrum disorder, you can simply ask what they struggle with and what they might need. Accommodations and adjustment forms don’t always cover all the bases.

The average classroom is not autism-friendly.

Questioning isn’t challenging. Unless we’ve been forcefully schooled against it -- and that happens a lot -- a person on the spectrum is likely to keep asking questions until whatever you’re trying to tell us makes sense to us. That point may come long after whatever you’re saying makes sense to you and possibly well after it makes sense to your neurotypical students. This is not a challenge to your authority, and it isn’t willful ignorance. If we’re still asking, either it’s just not clicking for us or there’s a gap in your communication that others are automatically filling in or a flaw in your logic that others either haven’t noticed or are ignoring. Try to react with that in mind. Your anger or frustration only baffles us into frustrated silence, and that isn’t helpful for anyone.

Your disorganization is our chaos. But it’s important to realize that even those of us with a high tolerance for change and ambiguity have a hard time with sudden shifts in deadlines that force us to restructure our plan for getting work done, assignments that appear out of nowhere (or disappear without a whisper) and changes to online course organization.

Adapting for us can make the educational experience better for everyone.

What does it mean to you to have this article published? What is an outcome you hope to see from having this article and its important subject matter published?

This article is a really big deal because I’ve historically been told that autism, as a topic, doesn’t appeal broadly enough. That’s a vastly misguided opinion, however. The very reason so few people really understand autism is because we don’t talk about it nearly enough and, when we do, autistic voices aren’t included. I hope that this article will open doors for other autistic folks, and I also hope it will help kindle interest in a deeper, more identity-affirming approach to thinking about and dealing with autism in higher ed. I’ve already been approached by a few community colleges about professional development workshops for faculty, and I hope to do more of that kind of educational work in the future as well.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in having articles/research published?

The big one is always to know your audience. Don’t pitch out to pubs that don’t publish what you’re selling, and make sure the pub you pitch didn’t just do a story on the topic you’re pitching. Beyond that, stay genuine and think a lot. Look for things that matter to you and figure out how they can matter to other people. Consider what part of your story – or your research – can make a difference in people’s lives and what’s unique about it. Never lose sight of what makes your work special or why it’s important. And, as an English instructor, I have to add, please, for the love, work on your craft and pay attention to grammar!

Are you working on any additional research or academic projects like presentations at conferences or more articles?

I won’t publish in scholarly journals. For one thing, I’ve been a working writer for far too long, and this business of not paying people for work because that would somehow make it less scholarly is bunk.

Also, however, the scholarly journals (and most IRBs) require writers/researchers to use person-first language (person with autism), which I also refuse to do. The vast majority of adults on the spectrum express strong preferences for identity-first/identity-affirming language (autistic person). I’m not interested in publishing with anyone who makes me say I "have" autism in the way people have some earrings – or worse, have a devastating disease like cancer. So I don’t see that kind of research or publication in my future. I am working for articles for non-scholarly pubs, however, and I’m now fairly deep into a memoir that’s had some interest.

What is your field of study? Why did you choose that field of study?

At ENMU, I’m pursuing an MA in Communication. I already hold an MA in Liberal Studies with an English concentration and an MA of Humanities with a visual arts concentration, and I currently teach English and Humanities at the community college level.

Tell us about your family and background.

Oh boy. Well, my grandfather was the leader of an Irish street gang in inner-city Boston who ended up with multiple patents for underwater welding processes and equipment despite having only a high school diploma, and my grandmother was a cowgirl raised on the second-largest horse ranch in Wyoming.

My mother was a theatre major who used to wear huge bells and once gave one to horror legend Vincent Price – and she literally ran away with the carnival to run the duck pond when she met my father. My godmother was a professional clown.

I was a Montessori kid in the mid-seventies who started first grade in Catholic school about the time my mother became Baptist. So…I grew up differently than most. I moved to Georgia from Ohio with my first husband on a coin flip. He’d just finished undergrad, and I was 20. I stopped out after a couple of semesters in Georgia, had a smashing and varied career, got divorced, got remarried, published a dozen romance novels, became the director of communications for a public doc comp, went back and finished a BS and then my first master’s, got divorced again, renovated a couple of houses and then moved from metro Atlanta to middle GA two years ago and started teaching full time and working on my second master’s… just in time for the pandemic to hit.

I bought a townhome in February and just finished renovating it, so now I live there quietly with my aging AmStaff terrier/cattle dog mix, Jazzy. I do have a marvelous boyfriend/partner, but we like our own space, and the dogs aren’t compatible, so we live in our own homes ten minutes apart. Human kids? No offense, but no thanks.

Tell us about your career.

That’s a doozy too. To sum up, besides teaching and working in communications, I’ve been in industrial sales, project management and marketing. I consulted for much of my career, both as an operations and communications strategist and a leadership trainer/coach. I’ve sold a few hundred articles, written a textbook and test bank for hire, crafted a few corporate histories and wrote more installation and policy and procedure manuals than anyone other than me would enjoy. I built the second-largest merchant-owned ATM (cash machine) network in the country, co-developed a few award-winning brands and campaigns and taught ballroom dance.