If I had Autism…
As I see parents writing articles on what Autism is, or how to describe it, I wonder how many of those people ever asked themselves what it would be like if they had Autism themselves.
Have you thought about it?
I have.
These are just some of the questions I asked myself:
- Would I see the sounds I hear?
- Would it be beautiful? Would it be painful?
- Would I feel the ridges of my finger prints when I rub my hands together?
- Would I feel anything at all?
- Would people expect me to have special skills?
- Would people expect me to have no skills at all?
- Would I speak the same language as everyone yet still not understand anyone?
- Would I be unable to speak any language but understand everyone perfectly well?
- Would I require constant control over myself and my environment?
- Would I lose control easily?
- Would I really need hugs?
- Would I really not want to be hugged?
- Would I notice the flicker of a fluorescent light?
- Would I not notice the dangers all around me?
- Will I be loved for who I am?
- Will I be hated for who I’m not?
Even though some of these pairs seem like opposites from each other, would I still answer yes to both? Would my answers change from day to day?
Would I be able to explain these things to other people? Would I want to?
Would I be me? Would I be less than me? Would I be more?
There’s so many more questions…. I quickly find myself becoming overwhelmed by it all but strangely, as much as I’ve thought about this a lot, it never really hit me like this until I asked myself…
If I had Autism…
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I truly wish I knew the answers to these questions, for the children I work with… It would help the parents I work with, as they don’t know either and it causes stress and confusion for them.
All parents have unique stresses as the result of raising children, but what is being done to help parents cope?
My name is Crystal Lee, and I am a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Baylor University. For my dissertation I am studying stress and ways of coping with stress in parents. My hope is to use the data from my dissertation to create an effective way to help parents cope with stress.
I am looking for parents of children ages 5-12 in three categories:
1. Parents of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
2. Parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes
3. Parents of children with no diagnoses
If you meet the above criteria, please take this survey, which takes 30-45 minutes to complete: https://baylor.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0GJF7ldjuBwBWEk
If you do not meet the above criteria, please consider forwarding the survey to any parents you know that fit the above criteria.
People who complete the survey can participate in a drawing for one of three $50 giftcards to Amazon.com. Additionally, people who refer others to the survey get their name added into the drawing for each person they refer.
If you have any questions regarding the study, you may contact me at [email protected]
Thank you for your time and help,
Crystal Lee, M.S.
Doctoral Student
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Baylor University