>> MEDICAL TEXTBOOKS DESIGN AUTISM AS A NEUROMEDICAL
DISORDER, SOME INCLUDES REPRESENTATIVE BEHAVIOR AND
DIFFICULTY WITH SOCIAL INTERACTIONS.
TO LEARN MORE, CONNECTING POINT CORRESPONDENT CAROLEE MCGRATH
SPOKE WITH JOHN ROBINSON, A NATIONAL ADVOCATE FOR DISABILITY
AWARENESS. HE'S A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS OWNER
WHO SPEAKS CANDIDLY ABOUT HIS OWN STRUGGLES WITH ASPERGER'S
SYNDROME, ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM.
AND JOINING US IS DAWN TALLAKSEN, PRESIDENT OF THE
SPECIAL EDUCATION OF LONGMEADOW AND.
>> IT WAS NOT REALLY RECOGNIZED
BACK THEN. THE ONLY AUTISM, THAT
PSYCHIATRISTS KNEW WAS THE KIND THAT PEOPLE WERE TOTALLY
NON-VERBAL. AND THE IDEA THAT A KID LIKE ME
COULD HAVE EXCEPTIONAL LANGUAGE SKILLS, WOULD BE COMPLETELY
OBLIVIOUS TO BODY LANGUAGE, AND UNSPOKEN QUEUES.
WAS REALLY UNKNOWN. AND IT WASN'T UNTIL I WAS 40
YEARS OLD, AND ASPERGER SYNDROME HAD RECENTLY BEEN PUT INTO THE
DSM MANUAL, AND PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT A FORM OF AUTISM,
WHERE YOU WERE BLIND TO SOCIAL QUEUES, BUT SPOKE WELL, AND
THAT, OF COURSE, WAS ME. >> YOU WROTE A BOOK, LOOKED ME
IN THE EYE, AND THAT WAS ONE OF YOUR BOOKS, THAT KIND OF
CHRONICLED THE THINGS THIS YOU WENT THROUGH?
>> I DID. AND AFTER LEARNING THAT I WAS,
ACTUALLY, AUTISTIC, AND I WAS NOT DEFECTIVE OR A SOCIO PATH OR
RETARDED OR ALL THE OTHER THINGS, PEOPLE CALLED ME, WHEN I
WAS A KID, AND I HAD A LIFETIME OF FEELING LIKE I WAS LESS THAN
OTHER PEOPLE, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, I HAD AN EXPLANATION,
AND IT WAS SUCH AN EMPOWERING AND TRANSFORMATIONAL THING, I
WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH OTHER PEOPLE, AND I WROTE, LOOK ME IN
THE EYE, ACTUALLY, NINE YEARS AGO, AND THAT BOOK JUST KIND OF
TOOK OFF ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND IT REALLY TURNED ME FROM BEING
THE OWNER OF A CAR REPAIR BUSINESS IN SPRINGFIELD INTO
REALLY AN ADVOCATE FOR PEOPLE WITH AUTISM AND OTHER
DIFFERENCES. >> DON, YOU RECENTLY BROUGHT IN
JOHN TO LONGMEADOW, TO TELL HIS STORY, AND TO SHARE THAT WITH
OTHER PARENTS, AND TO HEAR HIM SAY, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU
JUST SAID, WHAT YOU FELT LIKE WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD, IT'S JUST
HEART-BREAKING. >> IT IS.
>> EVEN IMAGINE THAT THAT'S WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE, AS A CHILD, HOW
IMPORTANT WAS IT FOR YOU TO BRING HIM TO LONGMEADOW?
>> VERY IMPORTANT. FROM THE MOMENT THAT I BROUGHT
THIS TO THE SCHOOL, ADMINISTRATION, THEY WERE
THRILLED. THEY EAGERLY EMBRACED THIS
OPPORTUNITY. WE DO HAVE A, LIKE ANY DISTRICT,
A POPULATION OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM.
AND OTHER THINGS GOING ON. >> OK.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR SON, JAKE. >> YES.
TEN YEARS OLD. >> HE'S A WONDERFUL BOY.
HE'S FOUR, IN OUR LINE OF CHILDREN.
AND SO, HE'S FORTUNATE IN THAT HE HAS THREE OLDER BROTHERS, WHO
ARE VERY SOCIAL WITH HIM, AND VERY INVOLVED.
AND I THINK THAT IS A BIG PIECE OF WHAT IS HELPING HIM TO
PROGRESS AS HE HAS. >> HE HAS AUTISM?
>> YES, YES, HE IS DIAGNOSED. HE'S ON WHAT THEY CALL THE
HIGHER FUNCTIONING PART OF AUTISM.
HE'S NOT WITH ASPERGER LIKE JOHN, BUT HE HAS A LOT OF GREAT
POTENTIAL, AND WE'RE WORKING HIM VERY HARD AND HE LOVES TO WORK.
AND, HE'S, HE'S WONDERFUL. WE WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING ABOUT
HIM. >> I JUST WOULD INTERJECT, YOU
KNOW, PEOPLE OFTEN SAY THINGS LIKE WELL, MY SON OR WHATEVER,
IS NOT LIKE ME. AND SOMETIMES, I FEEL LIKE
PEOPLE MEAN WELL WHEN THEY SAY THAT BUT THEY ARE
UNINTENTIONALLY LOWERING THE EXPECTATIONS FOR WHAT A CHILD
WILL ULTIMATELY GROW UP TO DO, AND I WILL JUST SAY TO PEOPLE,
WHO THINK THAT, THAT AS ARTICULATE, AND PRESENTABLE AS I
APPEAR TO YOU TODAY, I AM WELL SPOKEN, AND I AM DRESSED
PROPERLY, AND ALL OF THAT. AND THERE IS NO WAY THAT I COULD
HAVE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH YOU, WHEN I WAS 16 YEARS HE OLDO
TO JUDGE HOW I AM TODAY, AND COMPARE A CHILD OR A TEENAGER, I
THINK THAT, IF YOU COULD HAVE SEEN ME THEN AND SEEN ME NOW,
THE DIFFERENCE WOULD BE SHOCKING.
>> WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? THAT MIGHT HELP PARENTS, AS
WELL, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WOULD MAKE THAT DIFFERENCE?
>> THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT, FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE LEARNED NOW
THROUGH A LIFETIME OF DEALING WITH PEOPLE, HOW TO BEHAVE.
I HAVE LEARNED HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU SAY THAT
THAT'S GREAT. BETWEEN YOUR BEING SARCASTIC AND
ANGRY AND YOU ARE PRAISING ME. I HAVE LEARN TO TELL BY CONTEXT
WHEN YOU SMILE, WHETHER YOU THINK THAT I AM RIDICULOUS AND A
FOOL, OR YOU THINK THAT I AM SWEET AND CUTE.
AND OBVIOUSLY, THE RESPONSES TO THOSE EMOTIONS ARE VERY
DIFFERENT. SO, IT IS ONLY WITH LIFE
EXPERIENCE THAT A PERSON LIKE
ME CAN LEARN HOW TO RESPOND.
>> JOHN, WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT SCHOOLS COULD DO BETTER TO HELP
KIDS WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH THIS?
>> WELL, I THINK THAT THEY ARE. AND THAT'S A SIGN OF THE TIMES.
I DON'T THINK THAT THOSE THERAPIES EXISTED, THE APPLIED
BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS IS THE THERAPY OF CHOICE FOR AUTISM.
>> NOTHING EXISTED LIKE THAT WHEN I WAS A KID.
>> YEAH, SO THAT IS HAPPENING TODAY IN THE SCHOOLS.
IT'S NOT IS A CURE FOR EVERYONE. IT'S -- AND IT'S MODIFIED IN THE
TERM THAT IT'S DISPENSED, IF YOU WILL, AS WELL AS HOW THE CHILD
RESPONDS TO IT. THE ONE BIG PUSH THESE DAYS, IN
MY WORLD, IS THE SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL CURRICULUM, AND HOW WE
CAN APPLY THAT TO CHILDREN ON THE SPECTRUM.
I THINK ONE DIFFERENCE THAT MY JACOB HAS, THE OLDER SIBLINGS,
YOU DID NOT EVEN HAVE THAT AS YOU WERE GROWING UP.
YOU WERE THE YOUNGER BROTHER, WHO YOU ENJOYED.
BUT, IT'S -- THERE IS A STRONG THERAPY, THE ABA, AND THERE IS
ALSO IN PLACE NOW, EARLY INTERVENING SERVICES, AT THREE
YEARS OLD, WHERE HOPEFULLY, THESE CHILDREN ARE CAUGHT, AND
THEY START WHATEVER THERAPIES THAT THEY NEED.
SO, IT'S VERY DIFFERENT, AND WE ARE, AS PARENTS, THAT'S ALSO A
BIG FACTOR HERE. PERSONALLY SPEAKING, WE PUSH
JACOB VERY HARD BECAUSE WE CAN. HE'S A HARD WORKER.
AND HE'S MOTIVATED. HE CAN BE MOTIVATED WITH LEGOS
TO DO ANYTHING. SO, IT'S DIFFERENT TODAY, AND
THERE ARE THERAPIES OUT THERE. AND IS THE SCHOOL IS EMBRACING
WHAT THEY CAN. >> JOHN, ONE LAST QUESTION FOR
YOU BECAUSE I THINK THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO SEE, I
MEAN, YOUR RESUME, IS UNBELIEVABLE.
YOU WORKED FOR PINK FLOYD, IS THAT RIGHT?
>> I WORK FOR PINK FLOYD SOUND COMPANY, BRITANNIA ROAD.
>> YOU ARE A BUSINESS OWNER. YOU ARE AN AUTHOR OF HOW MANY
BOOKS NOW, FOUR? >> FOUR BOOKS, YEAH.
>> ONE COMING OUT. I MEAN, WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE TO
PARENTS YOU KNOW, WHO MIGHT BE, MAYBE HAVE JUST RECEIVED A
DIAGNOSIS? >> I THINK THAT THE MESSAGE IS
THAT YOU CAN REALLY NEVER KNOW WHAT THE POTENTIAL OF ANY CHILD
IS, AND I WAS THROWN OUT OF AMHERST HIGH SCHOOL IN THE NINTH
GRADE, AND I WAS GOING NOWHERE, AS FAR AS THEY WERE CONCERNED,
EXCEPT PROBABLY TO JAIL OR TO THE STREET.
AND YET, HERE I AM TODAY, AND I HAVE DONE OK.
YOU JUST -- YOU CANNOT TELL, AND IT'S VERY EASY TO WRITE OFF
PEOPLE, BY HEARING THAT WE HAVE SOME KIND OF DIFFERENCE LIKE
AUTISM, AND THINK WELL, IT'S NEVER GOING TO AMOUNT TO
ANYTHING. AND IT'S NOT TRUE.
>> I WANT TO THANK YOU BOTH FOR JOINING US, DON AND JOHN, FOR
SHARING YOUR STORY. IT'S REALLY AMAZING.
WE APPRECIATE IT. >> THANK YOU.