Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Miscellaneous Autism Autism Autism, Multiple Personality Disorder and Socializing “Where could anybody be without organizing their own thoughts”(Slater 1)? Imagine living in a world where one could not communicate with anyone around them on a truly rational level, even though the individual is completely rational. Imagine feeling so frightened by life, that one escapes to an Alternate reality, where they become catatonic, or even take on forms of different personalities to deal with everyday situations. Try not being able to communicate through one’s own words, only repeating what others have said in order to get along in life. This is what living with Autism is like. Autism, through the book definition is a “complex developmental disability…that appears during the first three years of life…the result of a neurological disorder that affects the brain.”(ASOA 1). Autism is often accompanied by Multiple Personality Disorder, which helps the person escape to a world, or situation where they can feel, “so called” normal. Multiple Personality Disorder is curable, and Autism is treatable, so with counseling and socialization with others, patients can be functiong members of society. Both disorders have to be treated, and worked at which is a form of re-socialization. The autobiographical novel, Somebody Somewhere, by Donna Williams demonstrates the road to recovery by an autistic, with multiple personality disorder. Williams reveals her battle with day to day encounters with family, friends, colleges and aquantences, because she cannot communicate with them. Chris Slater, an 18 year old, recovering, socially functioning autistic explains autism as “communication disorder”. He feels that autistic people “don’t have the ability or the instinct to pick up on how to communicate with others”(3). An escape from this is turning to alternate personalities, such as Williams did. Multiple personality Disorder, (MPD) was first recognized in the 1700’s but was not understood so therefore was soon forgotten. Many cases showed up during the years, but was overlooked, or misdiagnosed as either schizophrenia or psychosis. Many in the medical profession did not believe that a person could have more than one personality in a body, unknowingly, even after the 1950’s. In 1993, records show that three to five thousand people were being treated for MPD, compared to the hundred cases reported ten years earlier. The disease is commonly found in adults who were abused mentally, physically, emotionally, and or sexually as children, between birth to eight years of age. The child uses a process called disassociation to separate himself/herself from the abusive situation. This is when the child makes up a personality to take control of the mind and body. During abuse, usually there is a personality for every emotion and feeling when the abuse is taking place. Symptoms of the disease include: amnesia, hallucinations, depression, and suicidal thoughts, and tendencies, and there can be anywhere from two to over a hundred different personalities. Usually each personality will fall into one of the following categories: host, core, child, teenager, artistic, adult, animals, intimate members, self-helpers, persecutor, rescuer and helper. The child is usually under the age of twelve, with according behaviors, such as thumb sucking, tantrums, crying whining, pulling hair, and eating cookies. The persecutor is self destructive including drug and or alcohol habits, they also take over and can become violent or angry. The rescuer is logical, able proficient and responsible. The helper acts as medium for all personalities, almost like an all- knowing omniscient narrator. In Somebody Somewhere, Carol and Willie were Williams “Escape”. The alters helped her deal with everyday situations she could not deal with. Williams would disappear into her “world”, while Carol or Willie took over. Carol would be the rescuer, always getting jobs, and laughing off jokes. She would meet new faces and become friendly with them. Willie was the persecutor, he would protect her when she was scared, or lonely; “I was scared to walk alone now. It had been different when Willie was around. I always knew Willie would take over if I couldn’t handle things”(7). Surprisingly enough, almost everyone has sub personalities, but those without the disorder know when the alternate is taking over. An example of this is when one encounters a new situation, and the individual have to act "accordingly”. Although this is not the “real” you, one changers his/her mannerisms, and attitude to deal with the situation consciously (e.g. job interview). This also occurs when a normal person is bothered by an area in their life, and an “Ok” and “Not Ok” self develops. With an MDP patient, the sub categories are defined, and dissociate themselves from the human host (Rowan 7, 20). There are three different types of relationships of relationships that alters can have with each other. The first is “one way amnesia”, this is when alter number one knows about number two, but not the other way around. “Two way amnesia”, is when neither alter know about each other”(Clark 87). And cocognizance is when all the alters know about the other, but the host knows none of them, or even of their existence. Blackouts often occur during the latter. Multiple Personality Disorder can be explained in laments terms, but autism is not as simple to understand. Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than girls and knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle, and educational levels do not affect the chance of autism’s occurrence. Hand Flapping and rocking are to affects of the disease, and occur when something is out of place, according to the autistic person. This could be anything from a crooked picture, to a person wearing a piece of clothing differently. In some cases, Autistic persons can be a genius in some areas, and clueless in other aspects. There are many cases where children communicate through sequences such as prime numbers. Patterns and mathematics, anything with some type of order give meaning to them. Playing cards, sticks, numbers, similar objects can all stimulate an autistic, allowing some type of breakthrough for understanding. Individuals may also experience sensitivities in the five senses of sight hearing, touch taste and smell. Over half a million people in the United States today have autism or some form of developmental disorder (ASOA 1). There are still many questions to be answered, and there is not a proven therapy method that treats the disorder. Neurological studies have been done, but there are more theories for answers than facts. Those who have the condition, and are echolalic are the best keys to understanding, and opening the door to treatment. Sometimes listening to them explain their condition gives us more comprehension: I think a way to understand autism is to imagine being in a foreign country where you know the language poorly if at all. Then imagine the lights are turned up a notch too bright… And the sounds are just a bit too loud… And the culture is full off unusual and unpleasant odors… And if you’re a child, people who speak the language and think the sounds, and lights and odors are just fine are telling you what to do. A hard situation! It’s much more a sensory/communications thing than the mysterious otherworldly thing a lot of people seem to imagine it to be. For example, if you were in the situation I described above, you’d probably try to orient yourself by becoming very attached to certain routines or things. This isn’t strange at all! But it’s treated as “Bizarre” that autistic persons do exactly that! It’s not bizarre, it’s common sense. Also in that situation you’d be jumpy and possibly become violent if you were confronted with something unexpected. Again a pretty normal response-- (Slater 1) There are always different reasons for people to decide to allow themselves to start to recover from autism. Sometimes they get the help they need to help express themselves from speech therapists, but this does not help them learn to communicate their own thoughts and feelings, it only allows them to “Mimic sound or movement without any thought whatsoever about what was heard or seen”(Williams 5). Many people with autism are at first thought to be mute, but are simply not echolalic, or echopractic. Other times, people with MPD feel that hey can’t hide behind their alters anymore, for one reason or another, and their “best friends” disappear. Breaking away from a protective personality requires great strength and encouragement. Therapy must sometimes find and resolve the problem that occurred during childhood to bring back the host personality. Other times counseling helps them to communicate, then practice and re-socialization begins. For an autistic socialization is more difficult then it is for a child. They have to learn to accept concepts that normal children are taught and can accept from birth. The autistic not only has to accept it, but fight against beliefs, feelings, fears, they have believed in their whole life. Educational methods also vary from case to case. Some teachers try to identify an individual’s learning style and modify curriculum and material to fit that student. Many autistic kids are visual learners, so concrete materials are often used. Some schools teach autistic children sign language if they are not developing speech. There is evidence that sign is easier than speech: children of deaf parents who learn to sign through normal interaction usually start using it a bit earlier than other children start using speech. Also some autistic children pay attention to hands more than they “Do peoples faces”(FAQ 2). Other types of education include Facilitated Communication (FC); this is a method where the child can hit keys with letters to communicate, almost like a keyboard. There is much controversy over this type of education, due to the fact that they feel facilitators are “faking it”, but the method has been successful in so many other types of therapy that it is much to credible to be overlooked. Daily life therapy is a third, but not final educational experience. This was first used in Japan, and now used in the United States. It includes elements “normally found in the education of autistic, but places unusual attention to physical excersize”(FAQ 2). Mainstreaming, or integration has become one of the most popular autistic educational methods lately. This procedure includes allowing the child to attend regular classes, but still paying special attention to his/her needs. There is usually a paraprofessional side by side with the student, helping them along, or adjusting the lesson to fit his or her needs. I feel that this is not an appropriate situation for the child. Autism is not like many other disorders. The child needs special attention. They can not be thrown into a world that they will not understand, and usually be frightened at. This technique to me is as useful as throwing a baby into a pool and telling them to swim; the effect will most certainly be fatal. Autism requires slow integration through several steps. They are encountering a world that they do not understand, and almost always dislike. Some times the need for friends, and healthy relationships allows them to make the journey from their safe secure abode to our scary loud everyday world; one cannot expect them to “jump right in”. Other techniques include occupational therapy and physical therapy, to stop rocking, tapping and waving. Drugs are now being tested with mixed results. After researching these two disorders, in my opinion, it is plain to see that this is a psychological, sociological, and neurological disorder, and it should be treated as so. Drugs are not needed. I feel that that is a shortcut, and that the person is not being treated, only the disease. Motor planning therapy, teacher modeling, peer modeling are more useful forms of therapy. Autistic people are not easy to identify, those with high functioning autism can be you friend, neighbor, or even spouse. Only those with severe autism can be easily picked out. They have the same living options as people with other disabilities, which are ideally matched with the individual’s capabilities. While in the past children would be most likely located at an institution; today they usually reside with their parents. Families of a disabled person can be tied down to a much greater extent than other families. Supervision of children can be a full time job. Autistic adults, who are unable to cope with their own residence, are likely to live in a state run facility. Group homes and assisted living are two of their choices. In William’s story, she lived with her parents until she reached young adulthood, and then moved on her own. Although she was unable to cope, her alters would take over allowing her to be productive to society. She explains how one of her alters moved from place to place; Homelessness had always been a Carol mode. It was carol who had made light of living in the black duffel coat she had nicknamed her “mobile home.” It was carol who had sat casually on the train watching the last train go before saying, “Oh, damn. Missed the last one.” Me? I hadn’t been there. I had been a stray cat that carol had to find. Stray cats have no home to miss (Williams 12). As autistic people with MPD, recover they miss this feeling of security. They now have to deal with life! Before they could just go and hide when trouble came up, now there is nowhere to go. Although not all autistic people have MPD, they do have alternate ways of dealing with everyday situations. No speech is one of the most common occurrences. Autistic people can demonstrate great amounts of superhuman strength when forced to, and repeating sentences, or phrases heard before can help them to deal with their situations. In conclusion autism is more a sensory, communication disorder than a physical handicap. MPD and autism are both battles against the mind’s safety reflexes, whether the disorder is caused by a psychological, social, or neurological problem, and should be treated as one. The world we live in can be cold and cruel. MPD and autistic people are gifted smart individuals, who either suffered greatly as children, or hid for some reason or another. They used their only defense, their imaginations, to alleviate the pain. To look on the optimistic side of these disorders, one can turn to Mark 10:13-16, “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ He took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” Bibliography: Clark, Terri A. M.D. (1993). More Than One. (1st Edition). Nashville TN: Oliver Nelson . Books. Rowan, John (1990). Subpersonalities: The People Inside Us. (1st Edition). New York: Routledge Books. Slater, Chris (1999). Chris Slaters Sight on Autism. http://www.slater.autistics.org/thoughts.html Williams, Donna (1994). Somebody Somewhere. New York: Random House FAQ- *Web.syr.Edu/~Jmwobus/Autism/Autism Faq-Copi/Html* Word Count: 2636
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