May 2, 2024, NBC Boston: What you need to know about children on the autism spectrum
Helping neurotypical children understand the concept of neurodiversity is a crucial step to help children with autism. We sat down with an expert to discuss why.
"If you've met one child with autism, you've met one child with autism." This is a common sentiment in the community that describes the unique experience of each child on the spectrum and the idea that neurodiversity can be expressed in a very different way in every child.
"The concept of neurodivergent and neurotypical brain - that really allows us to understand the brain of someone with autism as basically a variation of the brain that you see usually," explains Edna Rodriguez, a clinical psychologist with Trinity Health of New England.
"At any given day, we can walk in a busy Boston street and, and be able to manage, the lights, the sounds, that all that comes with being in that busy and sometimes exciting situation. Right. But for someone in the, in the, in the spectrum, that can be incredibly overwhelming.". . .
"The more you can actually catch up to things and be savvy about it, and also the better chance that child has to really catch up to certain things and really learn about themselves and ways that they can cope with and now a neurotypical world, and also show their neurotypical, loved ones how to help them and make them more comfortable at home and in school," she said.
Rodriguez also explained that it's important to create a compassionate environment, where there is minimal stigma and where a child with autism can express their needs.
"It takes some consistency and therapeutic services, but they can learn some of those skills. And also we can learn to speak in a more, concise way, using less sarcasm, be more concrete in how we communicate. And that way we can have a better, more successful interaction with your peer, who is a neurodivergent person in the spectrum."
Teaching other children to understand neurodiversity is crucial to help children with autism, according to Rodriguez.
"Middle school and high school. We all know when we were in that age, the cliques that happened and now with social media and in all the differences in the new world that our are kids are living in, how much more difficult it can be to really, adjust and catch up to these social interactions, complex social interactions," she said. . . .
"It's important that schools and parents, talk about neurodiversity, how brains can be different, but they're still brains and there's nothing wrong. They're just brains that are different. And when we talk and teach that, I think we're creating a scenario for people to be more compassionate, kind, and understanding." , , ,
Finally, she emphasized that people are not a condition or a diagnosis - the diagnosis is simply a part of the person.
"You are not your condition. You're not what makes you different. You are you. We are where we are. We're humans, we’re people."
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