On Autism and Personal Growth

“Hello Leo, * hello Leo,” a circle of children and adults sings to an eight-year-old boy whose cherubic face sits upon an otherwise gangly body. “Hello Leo, so glad you’re here today!” the group finishes, just as the increasingly frustrated and reddening boy yells, “Stop it!” in his best Hulk impression. The teaching assistant to his left, optimistically termed a ‘buddy,’ gently rubs his back, gradually bringing him back to a calmer state.

Like the rest of the students in the male-dominated classroom, Leo has autism: Asperger’s Syndrome, specifically. This places him on the ‘high-functioning’ end of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and at times, he is no different from a neurotypical developing child. He loves Candy Land, enjoys tag, is especially bossy in that purely childlike way, and interacts with other people.

As a teaching assistant with the Autistic Children’s Activities Program in Portland, I taught, played with and guided children with autism, many similar to Leo, for two consecutive summers, five days a week, eight hours a day. Beginning the job after my freshman year of college, my only real interaction with developmentally disabled individuals had been brief, and my knowledge was largely theoretical. I was eager to learn quickly and draw connections to ideas I had previously explored in only an abstract manner.

The program proved difficult yet immensely enjoyable, both for the children and for me. From such mentally, physically, and emotionally trying lessons, I became skilled in reacting correctly and effectively redirecting negative behavior. As a result, I grew closer to the children, and autism gained a face – or several. I had incidentally but gladly become some form of spokesperson in my community and resident expert within my peer groups for this cause, which in the process also became my cause.

I dug into articles, studies and personal stories regarding autism, restructuring my experiences with Leo and his peers into an academic framework. In those summers, I felt incredibly challenged and fulfilled, and I learned to apply that drive and sense of purpose to other areas of my life. I saw that learning is a continual process, with new input constantly feeding older neural pathways as well as acquired information in an ever-adapting feedback loop. It is up to us to keep that loop alive and functioning on a higher level, and to stimulate it by improving and being improved by the lives of others.


*Name changed for privacy of family.