On the Autism Spectrum
BY AIZA DELA CRUZ
ADVOCATING for autism is due to my desire to correct people’s misconceptions about it. It is also to contribute to making a safe society aware of autism, understanding and emphatic towards autistic people. Based on various research, and the seminars and lectures I have attended, I would like to share what autism is.
Autism came from the word autismus coined by Swiss psychiatrist Eugene Blueler in 1910 while defining symptoms of schizophrenia. He derived it from the Greek word autos, which means self, and used it to mean morbid self-admiration, referring to “autistic withdrawal of the patient to his fantasies, against which any influence from outside becomes an intolerable disturbance” (Khun R, 2004). Autism then was not a separate diagnosis but considered a symptom of schizophrenia.
During these times, autism was still largely unknown and was often misdiagnosed. People who have autism were thrown into mental institutions as they were seen as schizophrenic or abnormal individuals or mentally disabled. It was a time when eugenics, a belief which aims to improve the genetic quality of the human population by prohibiting marriage and forced sterilization of people with disabilities, was still practiced.
In 1938, Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician, used the word autism when he gave a lecture “The psychically abnormal child” (Asperger H, 1938). Asperger syndrome, a diagnosis of autistic children who have no difficulties in language and intelligence also referred to as “high functioning” autism, was named after him. Asperger believed that autistic people are capable of exceptional achievement and original thought, and “have their place in the organism of the social community. They fulfill their role well, perhaps better than anyone else could, and we are talking of people who as children had the greatest difficulties and caused untold worries to their care-givers” (Frith U, 1991).
However, in 1949, scientist Leo Kanner propagated a belief that autism was caused by “refrigerator parents”, a lack of maternal warmth, and a lack of participation of fathers in playing with the child (Kanner L, 1949). But there is a silver lining to this false theory of Kanner. Kanner’s theory prompted the scientific community to conduct a lot of studies and research which paved the way for an accurate understanding of autism.
Now, autism is known as a neurodevelopmental disorder predominantly characterized by impaired social functioning and communication. The World Health Organization also defined autism spectrum disorder as a range of conditions characterized by some degree of impaired social behavior, communication, language, and a narrow range of interests and activities that are both unique to the individual and carried out repetitively. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5, published by the American Psychiatric Association, is used in formally diagnosing autism.
Autism is an inborn neurologic condition, a physical difference in how the brain developed and is not psychological, psychiatric, nor a disease. It is a lifelong condition and there is no cure. It is a “spectrum” disorder because there is wide variation in the type and severity of the traits and characteristics.
Nowadays, due to widespread awareness about autism and the autistic people speaking out themselves, the autistic community is aiming for acceptance and empowerment. Autism, for them, is neurodiversity, a difference in the brain, not a deficit or a disorder. For some, autism is not a disability as those difficulties are due to co-occurring conditions and a predominantly non-autistic society or the world.
Some embrace autism as a spectrum and reject labels such as “high-functioning” or “low-functioning” autism, and Asperger syndrome or “Aspie”. Some reject the puzzle as a symbol for autism as they believe that they are not lacking but just have a different brain. Some want the color spectrum as a symbol to identify them.
Studies and research still have a long way to go in understanding autism. Thus, I enjoin everyone to have more compassion and understanding for all children with different abilities.
I would also like to hear the experiences of other parents who have children on the autism spectrum. You may email me at genevieveaiza.delacruz@gmail.com. I am a member of the Autism Society Philippines (ASP), a national non-profit organization dedicated to the well-being of persons on autism spectrum disorder./PN
