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Megan Quinn

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor

Research Paper

16 March 2017

Living with Autism

The choices children make when going through their teenage years, will determine who

they're going to be. It is normal for a person to have many kinds of achievements, choices, and

struggles, as they're growing up and finding their place in the world. Growing up is different for

every person but can be an incredibly hard process especially if you have autism. In an

experiment done by Elizabeth Cridband, she documented the lives of three adolescent girls who

had autism, to see what kinds of similar and different challenges they were having in high

school.

Although, a lot of the problems the three girls dealt with were the same as most teenage

girls without autism, they were handled quite differently. Creating and maintaining relationships

with autism appeared to become quite different with autism. It became obvious that everyone in

their lives treated them differently; whether it be over the top kindness, due to pity, or verbal

abuse and bullying. The three girls with autism were not respected enough to be taken seriously

in real life situations, and that caused a major gap in their social lives. It became apparent that

even with their autism they still had almost the same emotions compared to teenagers without

autism when confronted with an adolescent situation. However, the autism caused the girls to

react differently when handling their emotions and there usually occurred a lack of understanding

of personal boundaries. Due to the fact that they were treated differently by their peers, teachers,

and society, it started to cause some emotional damage to the three girls. Cridband, and her
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research team, started to observe slight changes in the three autistic girls behavior. They started

to pick up on how differently they acted in situations and how they were being treated compared

to the other girls around them, and it changed the way they felt about themselves. Very subtly,

there became a negative decline in their attitudes and they started to lose their relationships with

their peers and the ones close around them. Since they were treated differently with their autism

in society, it had negative effects within the girls. Without noticing it, the three autistic girls were

subconsciously stopping themselves from improving in society, and letting the ones around them

feel the same way too. Changing the way society respects and views autism will give autistic

people a fair chance to be in society.

Autism works differently in everyone, but is especially different in boys than in girls. A

research done by Alexandra Sifferlin, was created to better understand why there is a difference

with autism when presented in a female and a male. In her article, located in Times Health, she

states from her research,

In other preliminary research presented at the International Meeting for Autism

Research, or IMFAR, in Salt Lake City, the study authors showed that when girls

and boys with autism are compared with typically developing boys and girls, the

behavioral differences between girls with autism and the female controls are

greater than the differences among the boys. Nordahl says this suggests that girls

can be more severely affected than boys.

The experiment done was incredibly beneficial, and proceeded to answer questions that could not

have been answered before. However, it becomes difficult to understand why the behaviors in

girls and boys is outstandingly different with autism. When a girl has autism her behavior can
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appear very subtle and in often cases, become undetected for a long period of time. On the other

hand, boys can appear very obvious to have autism based off of their behavior.

It is always more of a worry that a child will have autism if it is a male. It is more than

two times likely to have a male baby than a female baby to be diagnosed with autism because of

the genetic gene the babies will grow when they are developing. Although, it is incredibly more

common for males to have it than for females and their behaviors due to the autism to be

different, there is a way to be sure autistic males still have the same advantages in life. Treating

an autistic child how to behave as they grow up can be immensely crucial in the outcome of how

they will survive in society. An autistic child can have every privilege and opportunity of a child

without a disability if they just get the right treatment growing up. The only problem with

making sure a child gets the right attention and treatment has become the reason that parents

were not more aware of the programs designed for their children. In creating more autistic

awareness, not only has it benefitted the parents and their children, but also it has created a way

for society and people all over the world to accept that people with autism are not solely defined

on their disability;

"Go to Bing Homepage." Autism+Awareness+Month+Ribbon - Bing

Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 16. Mar. 2017.

That a person with autism is in fact a person and can have just as many

opportunities in life as a person without a disability.

Depending on the level of severity of autism, having any type of

relationship can be a very difficult and sometimes impossible option. There was an experiment
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done by a researcher with the name of Ana Miranda, to find out how an autistic child behaves in

their home. Her purpose was to understand how an autistic child deals with relationships and

how that affects the parents involved;

Overall, research on parenting stress in parents of children diagnosed with ASD or

ADHD has indicated that the characteristics of these two disorders make child

raising especially stressful, even surpassing the stress experienced by parents of

children with other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as specific learning

disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities (Eisenhower, Baker, &

Blacher, 2005) or physical illnesses such as HIV infection or asthma (Gupta,

2007) (2).

The data that was collected from Mirandas experiment explained the reason behind why having

relationships for children with autism can be a difficult process. Although, it is not impossible to

have a high functioning relationship with autism, it just requires a higher demand of learning,

patience, and understanding. Mirandas research not only addressed the stresses raising a child

with autism goes through, but the reasons behind each stress. The parents developed more stress

when their child lacked the ability to recognize the things around them, even sometimes

including their faces. Even though they understood that their child is smart and is still able to

learn, they stressed the most over their perception skills and separated them from society.

In order to have a successful place in society it is essential to be able to have relationships and

know how to interact with people, however it is still possible for a child with a higher level of

autism to achieve this.

Providing all of kinds of help and schooling for children with autism is very beneficial

because of the rewards that come out of it later on in their lives. Discovering that a child has
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autism is the first step and important, but finding out the best program to place a child is what

matters the most. When helping to develop a behavioral problem while they are still young will

help them grow up with an easier life. It can make it better for a child with autism to find their

place in society and be better respected if they have more control over their emotions and

understand themselves to know what to do. The earlier on they get help and treatment, the better

their lives will be.

In An Invention of Attention and Affection in Children with Autism and Down

Syndrome, Joseph M. Robert states, Although limited by the small sample size, these findings

suggest that autistic children's known deficits in attention and affective responsiveness to others

persist even in structured interactions with a familiar partner in the home (Robert). Children

will reciprocate what they learn in the home into the real world. Having a child with autism can

be daunting and frustrating which is why it is incredibly important to get the right help for a child

to develop. Every child is different, whether they have autism or not, and most children get their

behavior and view on life from examples of people that they are always near. Robert proved that

statement to be true in his research within the family of a child with autism.

In conclusion, in order to have a child with autism to succeed in society, they will have to

go to treatment and discover who they are. Every person has the right to be somebody in this

world and should never be denied the opportunity. Bringing autism to the attention of more

people will make the transition easier for these children growing up. As more people recognize

their potential, they will respect and take away the division they put up between themselves and

children with autism.

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Works Cited
Cridland, Elizabeth, et al. "Being A Girl In A Boys' World: Investigating The Experiences Of Girls With Autism
Spectrum Disorders During Adolescence." Journal Of Autism & Developmental Disorders 44.6 (2014): 1261-
1274. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 17 Feb. 2017.

"Go to Bing Homepage." Autism+Awareness+Month+Ribbon - Bing Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.

Joseph, Robert M. and Helen Tager-Flusberg. "An Investigation of Attention and Affect in Children with
Autism and Down Syndrome." Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, vol. 27, no. 4, 01 Aug. 1997,
pp. 385-97. Web. 17. 2017.

Miranda, Ana, et al. "Parenting Stress in Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD."
Exceptional Children, vol. 82, no. 1, Oct. 2015, pp. 81-95. Web. 17. 2017.

Sifferlin, Alexandra. Why Autism Is Different In Girls Than In Boys.

Time Health, 12 May. 2015. Web. 17. 2017.