The superpower of autism | Dr. Stephen Mark Shore | TEDxAdelphiUniversity

What if we looked at autism as a superpower instead of a limitation?

The Superpower of Autism
As a child, Stephen Shore, Ed.D., was nonverbal and diagnosed with “atypical development and strong autistic tendencies.” Institutionalization was recommended—but rejected in favor of parent-based intensive early intervention and support.

Today, Shore is a clinical assistant professor at the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education at Adelphi University, teaching courses in special education and autism. His research and teaching focuses on matching best practices to the needs of people with autism. Shore is internationally renowned for his presentations, consultations and writings on lifespan issues pertinent to education, relationships, employment, advocacy and disclosure. His most recent book, College for Students with Disabilities, co-authored with Pavan John Antony, Ph.D., combines personal stories and research with promoting success in higher education. A current board member of Autism Speaks, president emeritus of the Asperger’s Association of New England, advisory board member of Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association (AHANY) and advisory board member of the Autism Society, Shore also serves on the boards of the U.S. Autism and Asperger Association, the Scientific Counsel of OAR and other autism-related organizations.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

I'm here to talk about autism.

I'm here to talk about

using the idea of awareness
as a launchpad,

to taking things to the next level,

to acceptance, to appreciation,

and that is what I refer to
as the three A's of autism.

We've had a lot of work on awareness,

organizations such as Autism Speaks,
The Autism Society of America,

many other organizations around the world

have brought the level of awareness
of autism to unprecedented levels.

And that's great.

But where is the next step?

The next step, I believe, is acceptance.

Acceptance that autism is here,

and working with people
on the autism spectrum,

as opposed to doing things
to people on the autism spectrum.

The third A, appreciation.

And that is where we see
those of us on the autism spectrum,

valued for who we are,

for the contributions
that we can make to society.

So on that note, let us look
into the world of the autistic mind,

and we have a couple of pictures here.

There are some differences
between these pictures,

small differences between the picture
on the top and on the bottom.

And if you focus on these pictures,

you will see perhaps that

there is only three yellow boots,

or whatever they're called,
on the bottom of those poles,

on the bottom, but these four
in a row on the top.

If we look at the zebra at the hind leg,

at the bottom there seems to be
a wide expanse of white,

whereas the full complement of stripes,
is on the zebra on the top.

If we look at the brown horse
to the zebra's left,

on the top,

there's a red bridle
on the bottom, it's blue.

Those are some
of the differences that we see.

Oh, by the way, looks like somebody
dropped a quarter or something

on the floor in one of those pictures.

So, as we consider the details
of these pictures,

let us think about what we are looking at.

It's a carousel.

What was the animal on the foreground?

A zebra?

Or maybe it was a horse.

How many animals
were in the row closest to us?

Three? Two? Four?

It can be hard to answer these questions.

And that is because I forced you
to perceive these pictures

as many of us on the autism spectrum
perceive our world.

We tend to focus on details, so much so
that sometimes we're accused

of having a lack of central coherence,
or getting the big picture.

But as we look about the world,
as we look about our environment,

other times when it is advantageous
to be detail-oriented,

perhaps as a computer programmer,

maybe a designer, mathematician,

tax accountant,

and in these situations
it's highly valued to be detail-oriented,

perhaps even at the expense
of central coherence,

or getting the big picture.

So are we looking at a deficit
in central coherence,

or in these situations,

are we looking at when
people perhaps have difficulty

in these areas,
a deficit in detail-oriented thinking?

So as we look at all
the characteristics of autism,

every one of them can be flipped around,

to be an advantage
in particular situations.

And as we look at
the characteristics of autism,

one characteristic is an extremely
widely varying skill set.

And what that translates to,

is that the challenges we face,
can be really significant,

they can be deep, but,

there's also going to be
corresponding strengths,

that go shooting through the roof.

And that is where we see
the superpowers of autism.

There are some companies
that have recognized these superpowers,

that appreciate those of us
on the spectrum for who we are,

small software companies,

who actively seek people
on the autism spectrum,

who have vowed to hire

one percent of their workforce,
of people on the autism spectrum,

small companies such as Microsoft or SAP.

So what brings me to you?

Well, let's take it from the beginning.

Things are pretty typical at first.

At 24 hours of age my wife says
I look like an egg.

(Laughter)

And then, at 18 months like,

what happens to about 20 or 30% of us
on the autism spectrum,

the regressive autism bomb exploded.

There's a loss of functional
communication, meltdowns,

withdrawal from the environment,

and in brief, I became a pretty severely
affected child on the autism spectrum.

There was so little known about autism,

it took my parents an entire year
to find a place for diagnosis.

And when they did,

the doctor said they have never seen
a child who was so sick,

and they recommended institutionalization
to a place like Willowbrook.

Well, in some ways the doctors were right
about the institutionalization,

and I am now in an institution ...

(Laughter)

(Applause)

... of higher education ...

(Laughter)

... right here at Adelphi University.

So getting back to my situation.

My parents, like we see
so many parents today,

they advocated on my behalf,

they convinced the school
to take me in about a year.

And it was during that year
that my parents implemented,

what we would today refer to as,

"an intensive home-based
early intervention program."

And this was a program emphasizing music,
movement, sensory integration, narration,

imitation, play-based therapy,
therapies such as the Miller method,

floor time, daily life therapy.

This is terminology that we have today.

In those days the concept
of early intervention did not even exist.

It was parents struggling
to reach their child.

So what did they do?

Well, first they tried
to get me to imitate them.

It didn't work.

Even though imitation is a time-honored
educational approach,

many of us on the autism spectrum
may be at a point

where we're just unable to imitate,
so then they flipped it around

and they imitated me.

And once I did that,

I became aware of them
in my environment,

and they were able to pull me along.

And I believe the key implication is -
be it education, be it employment,

be it friendship, be it involvement
in the community -

is that you first have to establish

a trusting relationship
with the individual.

Then you can move on.

And moving on, my parents
understanding intuitively what I needed,

appreciating what I needed,
came into my life,

and then they were able
to bring me into theirs.

With the work that my parents did,
speech began to return at age four.

I got reevaluated by the school
that initially rejected me.

Instead of being considered as psychotic
and ready for an institution,

I got upgraded to neurotic.
Things were looking better in the world!

(Laughter)

We often hear about,
as the diagnosticians refer to,

as restricted interests
of people on the autism spectrum.

My first restricted interest at age four
was taking apart of watch,

very much like this.

I was found in our kitchen
popping open the back of this,

a watch like this, with a sharp knife,
I'd take out the motor,

take out the gears,
the hands, play with them,

and then put it all back
together again.

The watch still worked,
and there weren't any pieces left over.

My parents noticed this.

They turned away from the closed door
of disorder, deficit, and disability,

and looked at the open door of ability.

And rather than autism being a bomb,
perhaps autism can become "da bomb."

(Laughter)

(Applause)

And how does the autism become da bomb?

It involves appreciating the strength,

that the characteristics
of autism bring to us.

So let's take a look.

Let us suppose we have
an individual

who might have been diagnosed
with Asperger syndrome.

He's very talkative, he's an adult.

And let us consider
what the implications are

of the characteristics
of someone in this situation.

Say perhaps who works in a busy
train station, such as Penn Station.

Let's call him Robert.

Let's look at the characteristics,
deficits in communication: that ranges

from having difficulty in developing
a reliable means of communication,

all the way to maybe someone
like me who talks too much.

And maybe that's what happens with Robert.

The verbal characteristics of someone
like Robert might be

talking in a very detailed,
factual, data-driven way,

truthful, perhaps too truthful,
repetitive, repetitive, repetitive,

I think you get the idea.

How many times have you asked someone
to repeat directions when you're lost?

So he provides these directions.

What about social interaction?

Well it's a brief reading,
the customer asked for directions,

or when a certain train leaves,
he delivers them, and then they go away.

So, the social interaction piece works.
And what about those interests?

Instead of calling them
a restricted interest,

let's call them a focused interest,
a passion, deep interest,

and as a result,

instead of where his co-workers have to
look up this information and reference,

he's got it all memorized.

As a result, because Robert is
on the autism spectrum,

because he has these characteristics,
he outperforms his co-workers

who don't have autism.

And this is how we need to take a look
at the autism spectrum,

appreciating the strength
that those of us have.

Now what about those challenges?

I think you will all agree that autism
brings significant challenges.

Otherwise there wouldn't be
so many people trying to figure it out.

And we do need to address them.

But we do need to be aware
of the strengths as well.

So as we look at autism,
as we look at the challenges,

as we look at the strengths,

I suggest that we transition
from thinking of autism

as a collection of deficits,
disorders, and disability,

and turn towards the open doors
of abilities and strengths,

and appreciating what people with autism
have to offer to the world.

And we can do that
by considering the three steps,

the three A's of autism: awareness piece,
knowing autism when we recognize it,

recognizing autism when we see it;
accepting that autism is here;

and rather than doing things to people
on the autism spectrum,

let's work with the autism spectrum,
let's work with those characteristics,

and appreciate the strengths,
that people on the autism spectrum have.

They can provide to society.

So as we think about the strengths,
what about people with autism you know?

People who happened to have differences.
What are you going to do?

What steps are you going to take,
to climb the stairs of awareness,

and acceptance of people
with differences in your life?

Thank you very much.

(Applause)