When I first started working with kids with Autism in 2008, adults with Autism would have been born before 1990. Back then only 1 out of every 10,000 people had Autism.
There was no community of adults with Autism. Nobody really knew for sure if adults with Autism could go to work or to school or to college. There were very few adults with Autism who could tell us how they felt, what Autism meant to them and how they wanted to be treated.
But that’s totally changed. Social media has unified a population of adults with Autism. They have a message for us and it is time we listened.
I believe that every teacher who goes into the field of Autism whether they are speech therapists, occupational therapists, social skills therapist, physical therapists or classroom teachers has a good heart. They genuinely want to help people.
That’s why it is so important that we listen to what adults with Autism have to say. Many adults with Autism had positive experiences with therapies as kids. But, it appears that even more didn’t.
Many people with Autism benefited from therapies but the cost was their self esteem, self worth and trauma that they may never fully recover from.
I am choosing to take and stand and personally make sure that this generation of children with Autism never experience the types of things that left Autistic adults rejecting Autism professionals.
It is time we listened. There does not need to be a gap between Autism acceptance and Autism recovery. There is a way in which we can hold people to their highest potential and help them gain skills while accepting and loving them for who they are.
It is time we bridged the gap.
Join me every week at 9pm EST to learn about Autism from the best source possible- adults with Autism.
This week’s episode features Ryan Shindler who shares how people with Autism are just living their life and that conformity comes with a cost.
Please share this with everyone you know and help change Autism treatment forever for the good!
Enjoying these videos? Check out my blog where I go into even more depth on topics just like this one. https://hopeeducationservices.com
Struggling with potty training your child with Autism. Download a free resource guide at Http://www.autismpottytraining.com
Is your child struggling with trying new foods? Download a Free step by step approach to encouraging the most picky eaters to try new things! Http://www.justfreakingeatit.com
Is your child with Autism starting school or are you struggling with developing a meaningful connection with your child’s teachers? Download my free e-Book Http://www.schoolwithautism.com
Are you waiting for ABA services for your child to start or would you like to learn how you can help your child get the most out of ABA therapy. Check out my book on Amazon designed to help parents just like you.
https://www.amazon.com/Parents-Introd…
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Disclaimer:
This video is intended for information purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. The text, graphics, images, flash movies, and audio segments are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
The information contained in this segment is generalized. It may not be applicable in every situation. Before applying specific interventions, consult a behaviorist. Any behavior intervention can result in an undesired change in behavior if not implemented correctly. No client relationship is established as a result of watching these videos. Jessica Leichtweisz and Hope Education cannot be held responsible for any misuse of the information contained in these videos. <br> <h3>Auto Generated Captions</h3>
hey guys if you don’t know who I am my
name is Jessica likewise and I’m the CEO
of hope education services so I’m going
to tell you a little bit about me so
I’ve been working as an ABA therapist
for the past twelve years and four and a
half years ago I opened my company it’s
at that point I realized that there is
not a lot of collaboration between
autism professionals and on top of that
there’s all the children that had you
know autism there was this huge rise of
autism in the early 2000s well now
they’re all adults and they have amazing
stories to share and professionals
there’s no platform for a conversation
between autistic adults and
professionals and so what I wanted to do
is create this video series we’re
calling it bridge the gap and this is
their very first one but this is going
to be a weekly show is going to air
Sundays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time and
we’re gonna be putting out a video every
week and we’re going to bridge the gap
between autism professionals and the
autism community who has such an
incredible and valuable message to share
today we’re gonna have the amazing Ryan
Schindler on the show and we connected
on LinkedIn and he’s an autism advocate
he’s also an adult who has autism and I
wanted him to share a little bit about
what has worked for him in terms of what
therapies he remembers having good
experiences with would therapies he
didn’t have great experiences with and
I’m also gonna give Ryan the chance to
ask me questions and help me become a
better therapist a better autism
professional and just really to
hopefully shed some light for the autism
therapist and professional community on
really how we can be better and we can
serve people with autism in a better
capacity so Ryan thank you so much for
being the first one that came on the
show today thank you so much Jessica it
really is not it to be here for you’re a
dog roll show how are you I’m doing
awesome thank you home how are you today
I’m doing really well just happy to be
here
awesome soon I’m gonna you know in any
one of them one of the things I really
don’t like but in West Joe is is when
people are like well tell me about
yourself but the reality of it is is we
do need to know a little bit about you
so can you tell us a little bit about
you know your story of getting diagnosed
with autism what it was like for you
child what you’re doing now and like
what therapies you’ve had can you give
us a little bit about your history in
your experience well sure I’d be happy
to I don’t remember
personally when I was diagnosed but I
know that it was a right around the time
when I was about maybe 24 months old
around 2 I was diagnosed with what’s
called pdd-nos
which is sort of the other like if you
look at the spectrum of autism it’s a
little bit past Asperger’s a lot of
people who claim it to be and the
struggle that I found most of it was
with executive functioning you know
organizing thoughts emotional regulation
but also with social skills so I ran the
gamut from using occupational therapy
speech therapy social therapy Oh
shuffled around a lot of different
places as a kid and I had ace an IP
supervisor when I was a little kid I
didn’t even question it I just thought
it was something that everyone had but
outside of that I didn’t need a lot of
help academics easily helped
academically throughout school I did
really well elementary school all
throughout high school and that’s when I
got out of the IEP and I was able to
graduate high school then go to college
and get a degree in political science
and then I went to grad school and got a
master’s there public administration and
that’s how I’m able to sit with you
today and that’s awesome and you know I
love the fact that you’re sharing right
away because one of the questions
parents asked me and I work right now
primarily with children and early
intervention and parents asked me
everyday is my job being able to go to
college one day will they be able to
work and the truth is is that 12 years
ago when I first started into this field
I don’t think a lot of people knew the
answer to that question because there
really wasn’t a United adult community
with autism that people knew about and
you know social media has changed a lot
because it’s connected and unified
people but autism rate it was one in
10,000 just fifty years old so there
weren’t people and no one really knew
the answer to that and I think the fact
that you know now there are so many
adults with autism that are contributing
so many positive things and they’re
going to school they’re getting degrees
I had another person on my channel I
interviewed enough for at this show off
to bring him back on in his name is
Armando Bernal and he’s now a
CBA and he had ABA therapy as a child
and he is not doing oh it’s amazing for
parents to know well yes like children
with autism will grow up into adults
with autism and it’s not everybody’s
story but for a lot of people you know
going to college is what’s going down
and they’re gonna you’re gonna go to
college and get degrees and and like you
said be academically not only just the
same as everybody else the better than
you know a lot of people like obviously
so you know in terms of really the
social struggles that you had or is that
something that you still struggle with
today or is that something that you are
like you don’t struggle with it anymore
I obviously had conversations with you
and I wouldn’t have known if you didn’t
tell me you had well thank you for
telling me that the truth is I still do
I’m a little bit comforted by the fact
that not everyone is perfect even people
that are neurological everything from
like cutting someone off the road
shouting at them to saying something
rude of the office it’s not like all
autistic people lack the social skills
and everyone who’s quote-unquote
neurologically atypical has everything
they need the truth is that I have some
social skills that a lot of
neurologically typical people don’t have
and vice versa but I think what lingers
the most is sort of the belief that I
don’t have them and I’m still grappling
with I would say the trauma and sort of
the baggage that came with that growing
up yeah and I it’s hard because it’s
right and that’s a lot of parents that I
work with think they wonder if they
should tell their child like you have
autism because with that right it comes
this like social stigma and with it
comes this belief about who that is who
you are as a person and people will tell
you well you’re not good at this we’re
not good at right and so you start to
carry that on you know in terms of like
the trauma where you bullied with the
teachers was it therapist was it the
therapies what do you think caused that
trauma was just feeling like you didn’t
fit in it wasn’t unless it directly
from kids I mean there was simile but
that wasn’t made Martin I think it was
mostly just a simple fact that people
did it know how to talk to me I mean the
therapists parents family Minds like
they’re all neurologically typical they
loved me to care about me they gave me
all the services they need they just
they just did it no ha how’d it talk to
me it’d be like if did you have brothers
or sisters growing up yeah I do have one
brother
yeah well imagine if your brother didn’t
have a dad I had like eight sisters and
he was the only boy growing up in the
family it would seem like he’d be the
odd one out or even have a disability by
maybe not having the same emotional
skills or maybe not liking dolls and
stuff like that he is a very different
person but it would seem like he would
be the weird one even though he’s just
simply designed a little bit different
it’s a bit like that I didn’t have a lot
of people on the spectrum to grow up
with or to see as a model from so it
always seemed like I had to always
translate myself or adapt what I was
doing to everyone else rather than the
other way around yeah I love what you
just said there and especially in you’d
said you said specific specifically
people didn’t know how to talk to me and
yeah you’re saying cuz I never heard it
phrased that way and I think that even
as a professional with autism you know
before this conversation I would have
said well people with autism they don’t
know how to interact with others but
what if that’s not true what if it’s
that we don’t know how to speak to
people yeah you know people that are not
there it’s literally developed that are
you know they do have autism so you know
you which we said is so much value you
said they didn’t know how to talk to me
so you’re speaking to a therapist who’s
actually sharing this with other
therapists tell us yeah how could we
have phrase things better how do you as
a person with autism how do you want
therapists to talk to you how can we
talk to kids and they’re gonna remain
with them better that is an excellent
question I’ve read a few of your
articles and it comes from a good place
and obviously from a lot of research and
ABA and and the expert
for how a child should verbalize out he
or she is feeling but a countryman
assumption that these kids on the
spectrum don’t know how to communicate
and they need to learn how to verbalize
what they’re saying in order to be
understood but we all know that even for
people with autism for people for
organisms that aren’t humans and even
for most people most communication does
it come verbally if there’s a child like
in your last article who is sick that
has a tummy ache that’s tired or even
when you have a baby
there are other ways that they
communicate that doesn’t say mommy daddy
I have a stomach ache they’ll cry
they’ll wiggle around maybe their eye
contact is very is incredibly very I
think while we should teach kids to talk
if they can we also should be very
mindful of how they’re communicating
right then and meet them halfway
yeah and they think that it’s important
that like you said what we do recognize
communication and when it comes to
autism there’s a huge spectrum right and
we know that so I got some kids that it
is easy to see what they want like they
might take my hand to something and I
might in or they might point to what
they’re looking for or they might turn
and look at whether important that I do
work with kids that communication is
much more difficult and that even as a
little because who’s trained you know
it’s very hard for me to figure out what
they want or to figure out you know why
they’re engaging in certain behaviors
and I think that’s the hard part is that
when it comes to like ABA and it comes
to terminology and it comes to morning
calls some things will apply to some
kids and some things won’t apply to some
kids yeah how you treat someone like
yourself who is and just like in you
know the every other community there’s
children with autism that are severely
cognitively impaired and there’s
children with them that are geniuses and
have a genius-level IQ and that’s in
every population it’s not just an autism
but you obviously can’t teach or
interact the same way with both people
on both both ends of the spectrum you
know so in terms of you know just the
communication
specs of it i watch this video on
youtube it was amazing it said here’s
like five things not to say to someone
with autism so let’s assume now we’re
working with someone that can talk and
we’re working with you know a person
with autism what are the things that we
can say to you or say things you should
not be saying to people with autism to
make people feel more comfortable I’m
actually gonna question that very
question itself as you mentioned we’re
making assumption that we’re referencing
someone on the spectrum who can talk
there are a lot of people who can talk
but that doesn’t mean that they’re
inherently gonna understand what you’re
saying that you could understand talk to
me what types of phrases who are
offensive to people on the spectrum I’ll
be able to verbalize it because I’ve had
a high school education I understand
what language and tails and the
connotation behind that you could also
talk to someone my age who can talk
technically but from a psychologists
perspective might have sort of the
mental capabilities of an eight year old
or a twelve year old so even though they
have the same cortical capabilities
they’re not going to understand that
question i I sent a survey out to some
of my colleagues on the spectrum because
of doing a special project and a lot of
them even though they can’t read English
don’t understand the questions that I’m
asking and you’ve seen this with
neurologically typical people as well so
that’s why I feel uncomfortable fully
answering that question that said I do
have a couple of pointers that I can
point out we’re not all hallmark special
inspiration cases a lot of us can get
tired by saying oh my god you’re such an
inspiration you’re working so hard the
fact that you’re gone through so much
means a lot and it does mean a lot but
it we’re just living our lives this is
just normal to us would be like if an
alien said oh my god you’re so special
for not having four legs or for not
being able to move stuff with your mind
it’s it’s just something that we’re not
able to do which is
it just comes with the program where we
may be a little bit different than you
guys but we’re still human beings we
walk among you and talk among you we
have a lot of the same belief systems
ideas
we’re not basket cases so to speak yeah
and it you know it does make sense like
you’re you know you don’t know anything
different and I like that you said I’m
just living my life ya know it’s hard
and this is my first time doing this
show and you can hear it and anyone
who’s watching is even right I’m not
even sure what to say or what to ask
because I don’t think there’s been a lot
of this like what we’re doing here this
is the inaugural show yeah thank you
that there’s been a lot of times where
adults of autism sat down with
professionals without that are working
with kids with autism and I work with
kids I don’t work with adults with
autism so I haven’t had these
conversations before and you know for me
this is such a privilege because I work
with kids that are at the point where
they can’t really talk yet I mean and
most mostly like I said I work mostly
with early intervention so mostly the
kids that I’m working with our the
preschool the real intervention you know
they’re typical kids are not talking
about much either so I’ve never really
had like these this conversation before
and we did this on purpose we didn’t
actually talk about what we were gonna
talk about we said okay let’s just make
this really wrong really real yeah see
what happens and see what comes up and
see where it goes and invite other
people to kind of into this like
fireside chats and see your coffee chat
and doing coffee but yeah it’s just find
out like what is it you know what what
comes up when autism professionals and
people with autism City do so if I meet
someone you know with autism that’s an
adult should I now say like wow you
inspire me so much it because you know I
do see the little kid that works so hard
I mean the kids I work with they are the
harness workers I know they put more
hours and than I do and they’re just
amazing and Google they’re doing things
that other kids are eight aren’t being
asked to do and they just do it every
day and it’s it’s it’s already sometimes
it breaks my heart to see that they
can’t be kids because in order to have
the skills that a lot of people
just born with they have to work so hard
to get to the scouts what do you mean by
they can’t be kids well I know what I
know what you mean but I want you to
verbalize that you know it’s like most
of the most kids go to school for a few
hours a day and like looks like at
preschool kids they go to school for a
few hours a day and then it’s a
beautiful summer afternoon and they get
to go home and play in the backyard with
their siblings or they get to go to the
park and play with other kids and you
know the kids I work with whether
they’re in preschool whether they’re I
do work with kids that are school age
you know they’ll go to school day and
then they’ll come home and the leg see
look out the window and see their
friends or the other kids playing
basketball on the street and they’re
doing therapy they have speech therapy
occupational therapy Hebrew therapy
social skills therapy like you said and
they’re being and you said I’m being
shuffled back and forth but they don’t
get to experience like just the downtime
that a lot of other kids get to
experience so I feel like and for me
looking back in my childhood my best
memories are the ones where I was
playing with my friends outside in the
backyard brandon dis exploring and
riding my bike and all those things that
I got to do and I’m like wow this these
kids don’t get to do that thing we got
they have therapy then they go to school
it make them home and they have therapy
and then there’s like the bedtime
routine and the social stories and when
did it just get to be without doing all
that great a lot of our kids I like that
than you think
think about what about a neurologic
difficult kid that maybe they don’t have
to go to therapy but maybe their parents
own a restaurant and they have to they
have to do a shift with it or maybe they
come home and they have a ton of
homework to do which is a big problem in
our society or maybe they come home into
the parents are poor or they’re in an
abusive relationship where they don’t
let them go outside
not just because their neurologic
typical doesn’t mean they get to run
around and play all day after school
it’s not like people with autism or
disabilities are the only ones
quote-unquote missing out on their
childhood or having an incomplete
childhood just because their disability
and there are lots of people with autism
that are still able to play outside and
be happy maybe that is a part of their
therapy so that’s a narrative I hear a
lot that there’s the sense that
neurologically typical kids get to have
this
normal childhood and people with
disabilities jumps like they have a
chunk of their personhood or their
childhood completely missing that
everyone else seems have and I’ve
learned that that’s not really true
yeah and that is true obviously right
there’s a lot of kids who unfortunately
don’t get to experience some of the
things that maybe I got to experience or
that I would say most even in this
country I would say most kids I think
this idea of what childhood should look
like I don’t think it’s attainable for a
lot of kids even here I really don’t
yeah and today there is a lot of
micromanagement right in life with
excellent parents are like organizing
playdates and a lot of times it’s with
like business contacts and it’s you know
you’re shuttling kids back and forth
between different classes and you know
parents are preparing kids for college
when they’re in preschool or even in the
womb you know like I had I’ve seen
parents who they want to figure out what
preschool they want their child to go
into and they’re not even pregnant yet
and they’re like Lulu going to these
preschools and they’re trying to assess
it it’s when is it up and operate and
that’s like a whole nother conversation
yeah and I do agree with you with the
homework I am NOT a big believer in
homework I mean if children or dog or
look for a long you know time every day
especially when it is homework that is
not not necessary or her feeling like I
get a good degree of doing some sort of
work at home but if it’s just
regurgitating or if the teachers just
like printing up a worksheet but their
purpose of actually just giving it as a
parent it’s not I I think it’s not a
good idea as a teacher I wouldn’t do
that I did work at a school for a brief
period and I wasn’t giving homework that
you know unless it was something that
really needed to be done in like a
different setting or way a parent could
help the child to learn and I understand
that purpose of it but just keeping kids
busy I don’t see the value that’s that
would be an option for you to choose
though if you’re a teacher now with the
way school systems are run and the
expectations that principals have and
all the testing that has to be done to
the state mandates and the federal
mandates and preparing kids for all
these exams that I’m sure a lot of
teachers run this don’t you would love
to be able to snap their fingers in the
side less homework but that’s not an
autonomy that a lot of teachers have
anymore
yeah it’s just wishful thinking yeah
absolutely I totally agree with that I
totally agree with that so you know when
I first created this show when I asked
you for is you know really how can
I be a better professional by really
listening to what you have to say I
would have to share so there are
therapists watching this show how can we
be better
autism professionals and how can we
serve is everyone has a good heart and
everyone can really like if you entered
the field of autism as a professional
you’re probably a really good person you
probably really genuinely want to make
people’s lives better but we do have
adults now who talk about their
therapists and talk about their
experience with therapy not everybody
but there are some people who didn’t
have positive experiences and they
probably had you know traumatic
experiences with people that really
thought they were doing the right thing
how can we be better professionals and
how can we make sure that everyone today
who is receiving therapy you know in 15
years from now looks back and says I had
a really great experience as a child I
had an amazing therapist and they helped
me so much and this is what I do all
right
I have a very clear answer to this and
we talked about this little while ago
and it’s it’s a challenging question a
few years ago I sent a question asking
in what ways do you as an individual
feel oppressed or marginalized in some
way by society for exist for example if
I were to answer that I would talk about
the ways that AI marginalizes someone
with a disability living in a
neurological typical world but I think
in a more pointed example I would talk
about how I’m Jewish living in a frankly
very Christianized world the fact that
all the holidays are centered around
Christianity but my people don’t even
know how to pronounce mine the fact that
if I go to a chorus concert or fine form
all the songs are gonna be in Latin or
in English or talking about Jesus but
maybe one or two will talk about mine
the fact that there are people within my
society that are being abused and beaten
just because they’re Jewish but isn’t
making the news I would talk about like
the very subtle but also very formal
ways in which my people just because the
fact that we’re Jewish are put at the
bottom of the totem pole in our society
and in Barre and often in very invisible
licks and so what
where I would like to start in a way
that doesn’t even have to do with
awesome are there certain ways whether
as maybe a woman or as a self-identified
religious Christian or in other ways
that you feel you are invisibly ignored
or not taken as seriously or there are
certain blockades in life that other
people just don’t understand but that
you have to fight through every day for
reasons completely beyond your control
you know it’s funny because I really did
think about this and I was making a lot
of thought and you know I’m a woman and
I’m a woman yes and it’s not as common
for women to be business owners and it’s
not as common for women but you know
today I think the world has changed and
I think that today it is socially
acceptable for a woman to live alone and
to work a woman to have a business and I
have in a field I work with rate
obviously I’m an autism professional it
is predominantly women so I never elsie
countered that and I have amazing women
that are mentors in my life and they’ve
just taught me so much you know one of
my business coach is Susan spy she’s an
incredible person she is a mom actually
have a person has autism and I never
encountered that I just you know yes I
have liked and had people have had some
experiences people telling me I could or
couldn’t do something but it wasn’t
something that never really got in my
way I never took it on and it was so any
visual for me to hear that I just kind
of brushed it off and someone said
anything about it you know as a
Christian obviously yes there’s not a
lot of people that are today like really
practicing Christians
oh that’s bad enough same sense if I
want to I can go to church and connect
with other people who you know in like
it doesn’t offend me what other people
do think I don’t necessarily like it
doesn’t even really come up when my best
friend is not Christian I don’t think
that I really have had I mean obviously
other people I’ve had trauma but I don’t
think I do feel marginalized in any way
I mean it a lot of people don’t know I
have a genetic and relatable disorder
and if you talk about enough really
knowing anything different you know I do
I have sometimes I get tumors on my
nerves and it can cause oh well um you
know but I run marathons I actually
friend ultra marathons so I do yoga like
I I have had challenges like everybody
else but to be honest I wouldn’t say any
of those challenges to find me or I wake
up any day and say like you know wow
this this challenge is really
marginalizing me I can’t even think I’ve
learned him like I don’t know how to
really does not feel that way it is to
know that I’m valuable as a person
because I matter and I can make a
difference and that my vision of what I
want to create and do in life for me is
more important than than anything else
so I I have nothing I never really yes
I’ve had experiences but none of them
have really affected me a lot of the
people that you work with don’t get to
have that choice that’s something that
everyone listening needs to understand
whether you’re a woman or a man black
white doesn’t matter and this doesn’t
even affect me as much but for a lot of
people their identities whether having a
disability or the other things they have
to do with life they don’t get to decide
whether that affects their self-esteem
or whether they get to identify with
that Society picks forth and they’re
treated like that accordingly and that’s
and then that’s one of the reasons why
especially those people of color they
may be of higher stress rates and higher
mental health and physical health
problems because that stress of being
judged of being watch of having people
not give you the benefit of the doubt
but give you the exact opposite it
weighs on them and for other people in a
very constant way and that’s not
something that they get to decide and so
that bias is something that weighs on
them all the time it affects everything
and that includes people with autism –
people with very clear physical
disabilities uh I even felt that way
myself I was in a disability conference
and I saw some people there that were on
the spectrum or wheelchairs and had
stumbled eating and you know some of
them were foaming at the mouth or just
didn’t have the eating habits that we
would associate as being collect and I
felt so much judgment towards them
can’t imagine how much judgment other
people afterwards them and how they
might be rejected from social circles
even though they’re doing their best and
doing what’s natural to them I think to
be an effective not just be an effective
person but also just be effective allied
to someone with autism factor therapist
is to realize that they live very
differently than you that they go
through challenges that you will never
understand
and that worst of all we live in a
society that sees their very existence
as a prop as something to be overcome
with something to be cured rather than
something to work with and something to
exact their behavior around with rather
than the other way yeah and I think
that’s like great part of the whole
autism acceptance community and then
this recovery movement of going to yeah
children with autism and the balance in
between and I think that you talked
about we talked about this a little bit
briefly the other day you said well yes
you’re gonna treat behavior you’re gonna
treat like problems but this isn’t
necessarily mean you’re trying to cure a
person and it’s hard balance and it’s
even just you know I don’t think anybody
knows how to talk about it and you know
yeah work Whitney – yeah and I work with
like people with opposite extremes like
right I work with kids in currents they
have to watch their kids they don’t have
any language skills you know and maybe
their children are very aggressive and
their self injurious they’re hurting
them and and just like in the parents
are distraught and they would do
anything to try to help their kids and
then you know you I work with kids that
are just really smart and they’re like I
have a boy I work with him he’s he’s so
smart and then he can do basically
anything that anyone else can do but
yeah he’s a little socially
inappropriate like he eats weird yeah
great and I like work on eating with him
and I’ll say okay we’re gonna like
follow the social rules of eating and am
i doing the wrong thing like should I
not be telling him like don’t slurp your
food or don’t pick out the Bahman
noodles out with your hand like should I
let him do that like and just you know
and not try to make him adapt his
behavior and in such a hard balance and
no one is talking about it I think yeah
first this I really truly believe that
this is the first video ever airing on
the Internet
we’re like someone’s actually discussing
how do we talk about this and how do we
reconcile the difference between not
trying to change a person and not trying
to change who they are but in making
sure that we help people who really need
help and we teach in a way people can
learn and we do teach people skills that
they
not develop without being taught them
directly yeah and right there’s that
balance so how do we achieve that the
house and I don’t know that you know I
don’t know I know but maybe enough of
these conversations will happen that we
can figure out together as a community I
think yeah I think that’s the right move
because I’m I’m wrestling with that
question right now
and I don’t know I wouldn’t I wouldn’t
be here today I wouldn’t have a lot of
the opportunities that I had if I wasn’t
taught and drilled down a lot of those
social skills but it comes at a cost
comes at a cost of being very self
conscious being hyper aware or least
hyper analyzing how people might
perceive me even though I’ve slowly
realized that I’m not given as much
scrutiny as I once thought and so it’s
sort of unlearning that judgment it’s a
very hard balance to strike yeah it is
and you know and it’s like I kids I like
kids are at em and maybe their hand
flapping and I’ll tell them Alyssa tell
me don’t do that because people will
think it looks weird and they’re like
but it makes me feel better and I don’t
really care what you think and I’m like
what a great answer like that I mean
admit that that happened and kids said
that to me and he’s like I don’t care
what people think it makes me feel good
and people don’t like it they don’t want
to look at it and I mean like that’s so
true right but then when then when I had
the kid that’s like five years old and
they can’t talk at all and they’re
banging their head on the floor and they
have to wear a helmet to literally keep
them alive and the parent is
hysterically crying I can’t tell that
mother except autism there’s nothing to
be cured it’s not a medical it’s not a
medical disability it’s just
neurological that’s in learning and a
different interactions but it’s so
different and I think that’s like it’s
so different these two people are so
different and I think that’s why there’s
so much confusion and not but not only
how to teach autism but how to talk
about you know people don’t know what to
say and that’s the reality and I think
that I’m so excited you came on here
today Ryan and I think bridging this gap
and having these conversations and
enough of them you know I’m learning in
this process and I’m recording
videos because I want other people to
learn from them and like I said if you
watch this video from start to finish
you saw I didn’t know what to ask you
this is the first time I’ve done this I
didn’t know what you see you know I’m I
make videos all the time and I’m usually
really good in front of the camera and
I’m I can present information really
clearly and I’m rambling and I’m
disturbing in it I’m I don’t even know
what to ask you and I think that that’s
what I’m so excited is gonna come from
these videos because I’m not the only
one who doesn’t a little professional
you know what to say to adults with
autism today you know for it’s like we
live in this box therapists were you
know I work with kids that are usually
under three then they turn three and I
get new cats so it’s like with children
with autism they grow up into adults
yeah and if they’re lucky if they’re
lucky yeah bring all of us no one’s
promised tomorrow yeah so you know now
today there is an autism community and
it’s time professionals listen to what
they had to say so that’s the purpose of
this show you know bridge bridge the gap
I’m right I know you’re an advocate for
you know key for people with
disabilities for people with autism if
someone wanted to connect with you or
learn more about what you’re doing would
be the best way to do that well there
are several ways that you can do so the
easiest way is always to email me at
Schindler 56 end which is sh i n dl er
five six one zero at gmail.com you could
always find me on LinkedIn at Ryan
Schindler no see
and is all it I think those are the best
ways to find me so far reach me on
LinkedIn or email and I’d be happy to
talk awesome and I will put those um
those links below in the bottom as well
now if you are an adult with autism if
you want to come on this show you know
I’m hoping that this video not only
circulates between autism professionals
but also with adults with autism and
there are a lot of adults with autism
who reject autism professionals thinking
that all we want to do is change who
they are and I don’t want that to be the
case so if you’re an adult with autism
and you want to come on the show you
want to share a little bit about
you know your life and when what has
worked for you and share your knowledge
with us the community can reach out to
me my emails Jessica Jessica likewise
calm if you go on to my website if
you’re at a process professional you’re
not just a parent and you’re learning
from this as well you connect with me on
my website it’s hope educational
services calm this show will be put out
every Sunday 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time I
will be emailing it out to my email list
so if you wanted to make sure you don’t
miss it
there’s jump on my email list on my
website and I will send it out to you
so I really do hope that this was
valuable Ryan this was so valuable for
me I’m so excited we did this so I’m
really looking forward to continuing the
conversation maybe once I kind of figure
out how to phrase things and what to say
we can even have you come back on it we
can record another episode together this
is really wrong this is really real guys
this is just this is my attempt to
bridge the gap between autism
professionals and people with autism so
Thank You Ryan for going first and being
different Jessica
you
Bridge the Gap Featuring Ryan Shindler EKCPO3TQ5rk
hey guys if you don’t know who I am my
name is Jessica likewise and I’m the CEO
of hope education services so I’m going
to tell you a little bit about me so
I’ve been working as an ABA therapist
for the past twelve years and four and a
half years ago I opened my company it’s
at that point I realized that there is
not a lot of collaboration between
autism professionals and on top of that
there’s all the children that had you
know autism there was this huge rise of
autism in the early 2000s well now
they’re all adults and they have amazing
stories to share and professionals
there’s no platform for a conversation
between autistic adults and
professionals and so what I wanted to do
is create this video series we’re
calling it bridge the gap and this is
their very first one but this is going
to be a weekly show is going to air
Sundays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time and
we’re gonna be putting out a video every
week and we’re going to bridge the gap
between autism professionals and the
autism community who has such an
incredible and valuable message to share
today we’re gonna have the amazing Ryan
Schindler on the show and we connected
on LinkedIn and he’s an autism advocate
he’s also an adult who has autism and I
wanted him to share a little bit about
what has worked for him in terms of what
therapies he remembers having good
experiences with would therapies he
didn’t have great experiences with and
I’m also gonna give Ryan the chance to
ask me questions and help me become a
better therapist a better autism
professional and just really to
hopefully shed some light for the autism
therapist and professional community on
really how we can be better and we can
serve people with autism in a better
capacity so Ryan thank you so much for
being the first one that came on the
show today thank you so much Jessica it
really is not it to be here for you’re a
dog roll show how are you I’m doing
awesome thank you home how are you today
I’m doing really well just happy to be
here
awesome soon I’m gonna you know in any
one of them one of the things I really
don’t like but in West Joe is is when
people are like well tell me about
yourself but the reality of it is is we
do need to know a little bit about you
so can you tell us a little bit about
you know your story of getting diagnosed
with autism what it was like for you
child what you’re doing now and like
what therapies you’ve had can you give
us a little bit about your history in
your experience well sure I’d be happy
to I don’t remember
personally when I was diagnosed but I
know that it was a right around the time
when I was about maybe 24 months old
around 2 I was diagnosed with what’s
called pdd-nos
which is sort of the other like if you
look at the spectrum of autism it’s a
little bit past Asperger’s a lot of
people who claim it to be and the
struggle that I found most of it was
with executive functioning you know
organizing thoughts emotional regulation
but also with social skills so I ran the
gamut from using occupational therapy
speech therapy social therapy Oh
shuffled around a lot of different
places as a kid and I had ace an IP
supervisor when I was a little kid I
didn’t even question it I just thought
it was something that everyone had but
outside of that I didn’t need a lot of
help academics easily helped
academically throughout school I did
really well elementary school all
throughout high school and that’s when I
got out of the IEP and I was able to
graduate high school then go to college
and get a degree in political science
and then I went to grad school and got a
master’s there public administration and
that’s how I’m able to sit with you
today and that’s awesome and you know I
love the fact that you’re sharing right
away because one of the questions
parents asked me and I work right now
primarily with children and early
intervention and parents asked me
everyday is my job being able to go to
college one day will they be able to
work and the truth is is that 12 years
ago when I first started into this field
I don’t think a lot of people knew the
answer to that question because there
really wasn’t a United adult community
with autism that people knew about and
you know social media has changed a lot
because it’s connected and unified
people but autism rate it was one in
10,000 just fifty years old so there
weren’t people and no one really knew
the answer to that and I think the fact
that you know now there are so many
adults with autism that are contributing
so many positive things and they’re
going to school they’re getting degrees
I had another person on my channel I
interviewed enough for at this show off
to bring him back on in his name is
Armando Bernal and he’s now a
CBA and he had ABA therapy as a child
and he is not doing oh it’s amazing for
parents to know well yes like children
with autism will grow up into adults
with autism and it’s not everybody’s
story but for a lot of people you know
going to college is what’s going down
and they’re gonna you’re gonna go to
college and get degrees and and like you
said be academically not only just the
same as everybody else the better than
you know a lot of people like obviously
so you know in terms of really the
social struggles that you had or is that
something that you still struggle with
today or is that something that you are
like you don’t struggle with it anymore
I obviously had conversations with you
and I wouldn’t have known if you didn’t
tell me you had well thank you for
telling me that the truth is I still do
I’m a little bit comforted by the fact
that not everyone is perfect even people
that are neurological everything from
like cutting someone off the road
shouting at them to saying something
rude of the office it’s not like all
autistic people lack the social skills
and everyone who’s quote-unquote
neurologically atypical has everything
they need the truth is that I have some
social skills that a lot of
neurologically typical people don’t have
and vice versa but I think what lingers
the most is sort of the belief that I
don’t have them and I’m still grappling
with I would say the trauma and sort of
the baggage that came with that growing
up yeah and I it’s hard because it’s
right and that’s a lot of parents that I
work with think they wonder if they
should tell their child like you have
autism because with that right it comes
this like social stigma and with it
comes this belief about who that is who
you are as a person and people will tell
you well you’re not good at this we’re
not good at right and so you start to
carry that on you know in terms of like
the trauma where you bullied with the
teachers was it therapist was it the
therapies what do you think caused that
trauma was just feeling like you didn’t
fit in it wasn’t unless it directly
from kids I mean there was simile but
that wasn’t made Martin I think it was
mostly just a simple fact that people
did it know how to talk to me I mean the
therapists parents family Minds like
they’re all neurologically typical they
loved me to care about me they gave me
all the services they need they just
they just did it no ha how’d it talk to
me it’d be like if did you have brothers
or sisters growing up yeah I do have one
brother
yeah well imagine if your brother didn’t
have a dad I had like eight sisters and
he was the only boy growing up in the
family it would seem like he’d be the
odd one out or even have a disability by
maybe not having the same emotional
skills or maybe not liking dolls and
stuff like that he is a very different
person but it would seem like he would
be the weird one even though he’s just
simply designed a little bit different
it’s a bit like that I didn’t have a lot
of people on the spectrum to grow up
with or to see as a model from so it
always seemed like I had to always
translate myself or adapt what I was
doing to everyone else rather than the
other way around yeah I love what you
just said there and especially in you’d
said you said specific specifically
people didn’t know how to talk to me and
yeah you’re saying cuz I never heard it
phrased that way and I think that even
as a professional with autism you know
before this conversation I would have
said well people with autism they don’t
know how to interact with others but
what if that’s not true what if it’s
that we don’t know how to speak to
people yeah you know people that are not
there it’s literally developed that are
you know they do have autism so you know
you which we said is so much value you
said they didn’t know how to talk to me
so you’re speaking to a therapist who’s
actually sharing this with other
therapists tell us yeah how could we
have phrase things better how do you as
a person with autism how do you want
therapists to talk to you how can we
talk to kids and they’re gonna remain
with them better that is an excellent
question I’ve read a few of your
articles and it comes from a good place
and obviously from a lot of research and
ABA and and the expert
for how a child should verbalize out he
or she is feeling but a countryman
assumption that these kids on the
spectrum don’t know how to communicate
and they need to learn how to verbalize
what they’re saying in order to be
understood but we all know that even for
people with autism for people for
organisms that aren’t humans and even
for most people most communication does
it come verbally if there’s a child like
in your last article who is sick that
has a tummy ache that’s tired or even
when you have a baby
there are other ways that they
communicate that doesn’t say mommy daddy
I have a stomach ache they’ll cry
they’ll wiggle around maybe their eye
contact is very is incredibly very I
think while we should teach kids to talk
if they can we also should be very
mindful of how they’re communicating
right then and meet them halfway
yeah and they think that it’s important
that like you said what we do recognize
communication and when it comes to
autism there’s a huge spectrum right and
we know that so I got some kids that it
is easy to see what they want like they
might take my hand to something and I
might in or they might point to what
they’re looking for or they might turn
and look at whether important that I do
work with kids that communication is
much more difficult and that even as a
little because who’s trained you know
it’s very hard for me to figure out what
they want or to figure out you know why
they’re engaging in certain behaviors
and I think that’s the hard part is that
when it comes to like ABA and it comes
to terminology and it comes to morning
calls some things will apply to some
kids and some things won’t apply to some
kids yeah how you treat someone like
yourself who is and just like in you
know the every other community there’s
children with autism that are severely
cognitively impaired and there’s
children with them that are geniuses and
have a genius-level IQ and that’s in
every population it’s not just an autism
but you obviously can’t teach or
interact the same way with both people
on both both ends of the spectrum you
know so in terms of you know just the
communication
specs of it i watch this video on
youtube it was amazing it said here’s
like five things not to say to someone
with autism so let’s assume now we’re
working with someone that can talk and
we’re working with you know a person
with autism what are the things that we
can say to you or say things you should
not be saying to people with autism to
make people feel more comfortable I’m
actually gonna question that very
question itself as you mentioned we’re
making assumption that we’re referencing
someone on the spectrum who can talk
there are a lot of people who can talk
but that doesn’t mean that they’re
inherently gonna understand what you’re
saying that you could understand talk to
me what types of phrases who are
offensive to people on the spectrum I’ll
be able to verbalize it because I’ve had
a high school education I understand
what language and tails and the
connotation behind that you could also
talk to someone my age who can talk
technically but from a psychologists
perspective might have sort of the
mental capabilities of an eight year old
or a twelve year old so even though they
have the same cortical capabilities
they’re not going to understand that
question i I sent a survey out to some
of my colleagues on the spectrum because
of doing a special project and a lot of
them even though they can’t read English
don’t understand the questions that I’m
asking and you’ve seen this with
neurologically typical people as well so
that’s why I feel uncomfortable fully
answering that question that said I do
have a couple of pointers that I can
point out we’re not all hallmark special
inspiration cases a lot of us can get
tired by saying oh my god you’re such an
inspiration you’re working so hard the
fact that you’re gone through so much
means a lot and it does mean a lot but
it we’re just living our lives this is
just normal to us would be like if an
alien said oh my god you’re so special
for not having four legs or for not
being able to move stuff with your mind
it’s it’s just something that we’re not
able to do which is
it just comes with the program where we
may be a little bit different than you
guys but we’re still human beings we
walk among you and talk among you we
have a lot of the same belief systems
ideas
we’re not basket cases so to speak yeah
and it you know it does make sense like
you’re you know you don’t know anything
different and I like that you said I’m
just living my life ya know it’s hard
and this is my first time doing this
show and you can hear it and anyone
who’s watching is even right I’m not
even sure what to say or what to ask
because I don’t think there’s been a lot
of this like what we’re doing here this
is the inaugural show yeah thank you
that there’s been a lot of times where
adults of autism sat down with
professionals without that are working
with kids with autism and I work with
kids I don’t work with adults with
autism so I haven’t had these
conversations before and you know for me
this is such a privilege because I work
with kids that are at the point where
they can’t really talk yet I mean and
most mostly like I said I work mostly
with early intervention so mostly the
kids that I’m working with our the
preschool the real intervention you know
they’re typical kids are not talking
about much either so I’ve never really
had like these this conversation before
and we did this on purpose we didn’t
actually talk about what we were gonna
talk about we said okay let’s just make
this really wrong really real yeah see
what happens and see what comes up and
see where it goes and invite other
people to kind of into this like
fireside chats and see your coffee chat
and doing coffee but yeah it’s just find
out like what is it you know what what
comes up when autism professionals and
people with autism City do so if I meet
someone you know with autism that’s an
adult should I now say like wow you
inspire me so much it because you know I
do see the little kid that works so hard
I mean the kids I work with they are the
harness workers I know they put more
hours and than I do and they’re just
amazing and Google they’re doing things
that other kids are eight aren’t being
asked to do and they just do it every
day and it’s it’s it’s already sometimes
it breaks my heart to see that they
can’t be kids because in order to have
the skills that a lot of people
just born with they have to work so hard
to get to the scouts what do you mean by
they can’t be kids well I know what I
know what you mean but I want you to
verbalize that you know it’s like most
of the most kids go to school for a few
hours a day and like looks like at
preschool kids they go to school for a
few hours a day and then it’s a
beautiful summer afternoon and they get
to go home and play in the backyard with
their siblings or they get to go to the
park and play with other kids and you
know the kids I work with whether
they’re in preschool whether they’re I
do work with kids that are school age
you know they’ll go to school day and
then they’ll come home and the leg see
look out the window and see their
friends or the other kids playing
basketball on the street and they’re
doing therapy they have speech therapy
occupational therapy Hebrew therapy
social skills therapy like you said and
they’re being and you said I’m being
shuffled back and forth but they don’t
get to experience like just the downtime
that a lot of other kids get to
experience so I feel like and for me
looking back in my childhood my best
memories are the ones where I was
playing with my friends outside in the
backyard brandon dis exploring and
riding my bike and all those things that
I got to do and I’m like wow this these
kids don’t get to do that thing we got
they have therapy then they go to school
it make them home and they have therapy
and then there’s like the bedtime
routine and the social stories and when
did it just get to be without doing all
that great a lot of our kids I like that
than you think
think about what about a neurologic
difficult kid that maybe they don’t have
to go to therapy but maybe their parents
own a restaurant and they have to they
have to do a shift with it or maybe they
come home and they have a ton of
homework to do which is a big problem in
our society or maybe they come home into
the parents are poor or they’re in an
abusive relationship where they don’t
let them go outside
not just because their neurologic
typical doesn’t mean they get to run
around and play all day after school
it’s not like people with autism or
disabilities are the only ones
quote-unquote missing out on their
childhood or having an incomplete
childhood just because their disability
and there are lots of people with autism
that are still able to play outside and
be happy maybe that is a part of their
therapy so that’s a narrative I hear a
lot that there’s the sense that
neurologically typical kids get to have
this
normal childhood and people with
disabilities jumps like they have a
chunk of their personhood or their
childhood completely missing that
everyone else seems have and I’ve
learned that that’s not really true
yeah and that is true obviously right
there’s a lot of kids who unfortunately
don’t get to experience some of the
things that maybe I got to experience or
that I would say most even in this
country I would say most kids I think
this idea of what childhood should look
like I don’t think it’s attainable for a
lot of kids even here I really don’t
yeah and today there is a lot of
micromanagement right in life with
excellent parents are like organizing
playdates and a lot of times it’s with
like business contacts and it’s you know
you’re shuttling kids back and forth
between different classes and you know
parents are preparing kids for college
when they’re in preschool or even in the
womb you know like I had I’ve seen
parents who they want to figure out what
preschool they want their child to go
into and they’re not even pregnant yet
and they’re like Lulu going to these
preschools and they’re trying to assess
it it’s when is it up and operate and
that’s like a whole nother conversation
yeah and I do agree with you with the
homework I am NOT a big believer in
homework I mean if children or dog or
look for a long you know time every day
especially when it is homework that is
not not necessary or her feeling like I
get a good degree of doing some sort of
work at home but if it’s just
regurgitating or if the teachers just
like printing up a worksheet but their
purpose of actually just giving it as a
parent it’s not I I think it’s not a
good idea as a teacher I wouldn’t do
that I did work at a school for a brief
period and I wasn’t giving homework that
you know unless it was something that
really needed to be done in like a
different setting or way a parent could
help the child to learn and I understand
that purpose of it but just keeping kids
busy I don’t see the value that’s that
would be an option for you to choose
though if you’re a teacher now with the
way school systems are run and the
expectations that principals have and
all the testing that has to be done to
the state mandates and the federal
mandates and preparing kids for all
these exams that I’m sure a lot of
teachers run this don’t you would love
to be able to snap their fingers in the
side less homework but that’s not an
autonomy that a lot of teachers have
anymore
yeah it’s just wishful thinking yeah
absolutely I totally agree with that I
totally agree with that so you know when
I first created this show when I asked
you for is you know really how can
I be a better professional by really
listening to what you have to say I
would have to share so there are
therapists watching this show how can we
be better
autism professionals and how can we
serve is everyone has a good heart and
everyone can really like if you entered
the field of autism as a professional
you’re probably a really good person you
probably really genuinely want to make
people’s lives better but we do have
adults now who talk about their
therapists and talk about their
experience with therapy not everybody
but there are some people who didn’t
have positive experiences and they
probably had you know traumatic
experiences with people that really
thought they were doing the right thing
how can we be better professionals and
how can we make sure that everyone today
who is receiving therapy you know in 15
years from now looks back and says I had
a really great experience as a child I
had an amazing therapist and they helped
me so much and this is what I do all
right
I have a very clear answer to this and
we talked about this little while ago
and it’s it’s a challenging question a
few years ago I sent a question asking
in what ways do you as an individual
feel oppressed or marginalized in some
way by society for exist for example if
I were to answer that I would talk about
the ways that AI marginalizes someone
with a disability living in a
neurological typical world but I think
in a more pointed example I would talk
about how I’m Jewish living in a frankly
very Christianized world the fact that
all the holidays are centered around
Christianity but my people don’t even
know how to pronounce mine the fact that
if I go to a chorus concert or fine form
all the songs are gonna be in Latin or
in English or talking about Jesus but
maybe one or two will talk about mine
the fact that there are people within my
society that are being abused and beaten
just because they’re Jewish but isn’t
making the news I would talk about like
the very subtle but also very formal
ways in which my people just because the
fact that we’re Jewish are put at the
bottom of the totem pole in our society
and in Barre and often in very invisible
licks and so what
where I would like to start in a way
that doesn’t even have to do with
awesome are there certain ways whether
as maybe a woman or as a self-identified
religious Christian or in other ways
that you feel you are invisibly ignored
or not taken as seriously or there are
certain blockades in life that other
people just don’t understand but that
you have to fight through every day for
reasons completely beyond your control
you know it’s funny because I really did
think about this and I was making a lot
of thought and you know I’m a woman and
I’m a woman yes and it’s not as common
for women to be business owners and it’s
not as common for women but you know
today I think the world has changed and
I think that today it is socially
acceptable for a woman to live alone and
to work a woman to have a business and I
have in a field I work with rate
obviously I’m an autism professional it
is predominantly women so I never elsie
countered that and I have amazing women
that are mentors in my life and they’ve
just taught me so much you know one of
my business coach is Susan spy she’s an
incredible person she is a mom actually
have a person has autism and I never
encountered that I just you know yes I
have liked and had people have had some
experiences people telling me I could or
couldn’t do something but it wasn’t
something that never really got in my
way I never took it on and it was so any
visual for me to hear that I just kind
of brushed it off and someone said
anything about it you know as a
Christian obviously yes there’s not a
lot of people that are today like really
practicing Christians
oh that’s bad enough same sense if I
want to I can go to church and connect
with other people who you know in like
it doesn’t offend me what other people
do think I don’t necessarily like it
doesn’t even really come up when my best
friend is not Christian I don’t think
that I really have had I mean obviously
other people I’ve had trauma but I don’t
think I do feel marginalized in any way
I mean it a lot of people don’t know I
have a genetic and relatable disorder
and if you talk about enough really
knowing anything different you know I do
I have sometimes I get tumors on my
nerves and it can cause oh well um you
know but I run marathons I actually
friend ultra marathons so I do yoga like
I I have had challenges like everybody
else but to be honest I wouldn’t say any
of those challenges to find me or I wake
up any day and say like you know wow
this this challenge is really
marginalizing me I can’t even think I’ve
learned him like I don’t know how to
really does not feel that way it is to
know that I’m valuable as a person
because I matter and I can make a
difference and that my vision of what I
want to create and do in life for me is
more important than than anything else
so I I have nothing I never really yes
I’ve had experiences but none of them
have really affected me a lot of the
people that you work with don’t get to
have that choice that’s something that
everyone listening needs to understand
whether you’re a woman or a man black
white doesn’t matter and this doesn’t
even affect me as much but for a lot of
people their identities whether having a
disability or the other things they have
to do with life they don’t get to decide
whether that affects their self-esteem
or whether they get to identify with
that Society picks forth and they’re
treated like that accordingly and that’s
and then that’s one of the reasons why
especially those people of color they
may be of higher stress rates and higher
mental health and physical health
problems because that stress of being
judged of being watch of having people
not give you the benefit of the doubt
but give you the exact opposite it
weighs on them and for other people in a
very constant way and that’s not
something that they get to decide and so
that bias is something that weighs on
them all the time it affects everything
and that includes people with autism –
people with very clear physical
disabilities uh I even felt that way
myself I was in a disability conference
and I saw some people there that were on
the spectrum or wheelchairs and had
stumbled eating and you know some of
them were foaming at the mouth or just
didn’t have the eating habits that we
would associate as being collect and I
felt so much judgment towards them
can’t imagine how much judgment other
people afterwards them and how they
might be rejected from social circles
even though they’re doing their best and
doing what’s natural to them I think to
be an effective not just be an effective
person but also just be effective allied
to someone with autism factor therapist
is to realize that they live very
differently than you that they go
through challenges that you will never
understand
and that worst of all we live in a
society that sees their very existence
as a prop as something to be overcome
with something to be cured rather than
something to work with and something to
exact their behavior around with rather
than the other way yeah and I think
that’s like great part of the whole
autism acceptance community and then
this recovery movement of going to yeah
children with autism and the balance in
between and I think that you talked
about we talked about this a little bit
briefly the other day you said well yes
you’re gonna treat behavior you’re gonna
treat like problems but this isn’t
necessarily mean you’re trying to cure a
person and it’s hard balance and it’s
even just you know I don’t think anybody
knows how to talk about it and you know
yeah work Whitney – yeah and I work with
like people with opposite extremes like
right I work with kids in currents they
have to watch their kids they don’t have
any language skills you know and maybe
their children are very aggressive and
their self injurious they’re hurting
them and and just like in the parents
are distraught and they would do
anything to try to help their kids and
then you know you I work with kids that
are just really smart and they’re like I
have a boy I work with him he’s he’s so
smart and then he can do basically
anything that anyone else can do but
yeah he’s a little socially
inappropriate like he eats weird yeah
great and I like work on eating with him
and I’ll say okay we’re gonna like
follow the social rules of eating and am
i doing the wrong thing like should I
not be telling him like don’t slurp your
food or don’t pick out the Bahman
noodles out with your hand like should I
let him do that like and just you know
and not try to make him adapt his
behavior and in such a hard balance and
no one is talking about it I think yeah
first this I really truly believe that
this is the first video ever airing on
the Internet
we’re like someone’s actually discussing
how do we talk about this and how do we
reconcile the difference between not
trying to change a person and not trying
to change who they are but in making
sure that we help people who really need
help and we teach in a way people can
learn and we do teach people skills that
they
not develop without being taught them
directly yeah and right there’s that
balance so how do we achieve that the
house and I don’t know that you know I
don’t know I know but maybe enough of
these conversations will happen that we
can figure out together as a community I
think yeah I think that’s the right move
because I’m I’m wrestling with that
question right now
and I don’t know I wouldn’t I wouldn’t
be here today I wouldn’t have a lot of
the opportunities that I had if I wasn’t
taught and drilled down a lot of those
social skills but it comes at a cost
comes at a cost of being very self
conscious being hyper aware or least
hyper analyzing how people might
perceive me even though I’ve slowly
realized that I’m not given as much
scrutiny as I once thought and so it’s
sort of unlearning that judgment it’s a
very hard balance to strike yeah it is
and you know and it’s like I kids I like
kids are at em and maybe their hand
flapping and I’ll tell them Alyssa tell
me don’t do that because people will
think it looks weird and they’re like
but it makes me feel better and I don’t
really care what you think and I’m like
what a great answer like that I mean
admit that that happened and kids said
that to me and he’s like I don’t care
what people think it makes me feel good
and people don’t like it they don’t want
to look at it and I mean like that’s so
true right but then when then when I had
the kid that’s like five years old and
they can’t talk at all and they’re
banging their head on the floor and they
have to wear a helmet to literally keep
them alive and the parent is
hysterically crying I can’t tell that
mother except autism there’s nothing to
be cured it’s not a medical it’s not a
medical disability it’s just
neurological that’s in learning and a
different interactions but it’s so
different and I think that’s like it’s
so different these two people are so
different and I think that’s why there’s
so much confusion and not but not only
how to teach autism but how to talk
about you know people don’t know what to
say and that’s the reality and I think
that I’m so excited you came on here
today Ryan and I think bridging this gap
and having these conversations and
enough of them you know I’m learning in
this process and I’m recording
videos because I want other people to
learn from them and like I said if you
watch this video from start to finish
you saw I didn’t know what to ask you
this is the first time I’ve done this I
didn’t know what you see you know I’m I
make videos all the time and I’m usually
really good in front of the camera and
I’m I can present information really
clearly and I’m rambling and I’m
disturbing in it I’m I don’t even know
what to ask you and I think that that’s
what I’m so excited is gonna come from
these videos because I’m not the only
one who doesn’t a little professional
you know what to say to adults with
autism today you know for it’s like we
live in this box therapists were you
know I work with kids that are usually
under three then they turn three and I
get new cats so it’s like with children
with autism they grow up into adults
yeah and if they’re lucky if they’re
lucky yeah bring all of us no one’s
promised tomorrow yeah so you know now
today there is an autism community and
it’s time professionals listen to what
they had to say so that’s the purpose of
this show you know bridge bridge the gap
I’m right I know you’re an advocate for
you know key for people with
disabilities for people with autism if
someone wanted to connect with you or
learn more about what you’re doing would
be the best way to do that well there
are several ways that you can do so the
easiest way is always to email me at
Schindler 56 end which is sh i n dl er
five six one zero at gmail.com you could
always find me on LinkedIn at Ryan
Schindler no see
and is all it I think those are the best
ways to find me so far reach me on
LinkedIn or email and I’d be happy to
talk awesome and I will put those um
those links below in the bottom as well
now if you are an adult with autism if
you want to come on this show you know
I’m hoping that this video not only
circulates between autism professionals
but also with adults with autism and
there are a lot of adults with autism
who reject autism professionals thinking
that all we want to do is change who
they are and I don’t want that to be the
case so if you’re an adult with autism
and you want to come on the show you
want to share a little bit about
you know your life and when what has
worked for you and share your knowledge
with us the community can reach out to
me my emails Jessica Jessica likewise
calm if you go on to my website if
you’re at a process professional you’re
not just a parent and you’re learning
from this as well you connect with me on
my website it’s hope educational
services calm this show will be put out
every Sunday 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time I
will be emailing it out to my email list
so if you wanted to make sure you don’t
miss it
there’s jump on my email list on my
website and I will send it out to you
so I really do hope that this was
valuable Ryan this was so valuable for
me I’m so excited we did this so I’m
really looking forward to continuing the
conversation maybe once I kind of figure
out how to phrase things and what to say
we can even have you come back on it we
can record another episode together this
is really wrong this is really real guys
this is just this is my attempt to
bridge the gap between autism
professionals and people with autism so
Thank You Ryan for going first and being
different Jessica
you
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EKCPO3TQ5rk/hqdefault.jpg autism,autism acceptance,autism awareness,autism stories,autism tv show,autism tv series,autism traits,autism video,autism documentary,adults with autism,autiistic adult,autisms professionals,aba,aba therapy,applied behavior analysis,applied behaviour analysis,autism treatment,autism acceptance month,adult with autism,aspergers,asperger syndrome,jessica leichtweisz,hope education services,bridge the gap,ryan shindler When I first started working with kids with Autism in 2008, adults with Autism would have been born before 1990. Back then only 1 out of every 10,000 people had Autism.
There was no community of adults with Autism. Nobody really knew for sure if adults with Autism could go to work or to school or to college. There were very few adults with Autism who could tell us how they felt, what Autism meant to them and how they wanted to be treated.
But that’s totally changed. Social media has unified a population of adults with Autism. They have a message for us and it is time we listened.
I believe that every teacher who goes into the field of Autism whether they are speech therapists, occupational therapists, social skills therapist, physical therapists or classroom teachers has a good heart. They genuinely want to help people.
That’s why it is so important that we listen to what adults with Autism have to say. Many adults with Autism had positive experiences with therapies as kids. But, it appears that even more didn’t.
Many people with Autism benefited from therapies but the cost was their self esteem, self worth and trauma that they may never fully recover from.
I am choosing to take and stand and personally make sure that this generation of children with Autism never experience the types of things that left Autistic adults rejecting Autism professionals.
It is time we listened. There does not need to be a gap between Autism acceptance and Autism recovery. There is a way in which we can hold people to their highest potential and help them gain skills while accepting and loving them for who they are.
It is time we bridged the gap.
Join me every week at 9pm EST to learn about Autism from the best source possible- adults with Autism.
This week’s episode features Ryan Shindler who shares how people with Autism are just living their life and that conformity comes with a cost.
Please share this with everyone you know and help change Autism treatment forever for the good!
Enjoying these videos? Check out my blog where I go into even more depth on topics just like this one. https://hopeeducationservices.com
Struggling with potty training your child with Autism. Download a free resource guide at Http://www.autismpottytraining.com
Is your child struggling with trying new foods? Download a Free step by step approach to encouraging the most picky eaters to try new things! Http://www.justfreakingeatit.com
Is your child with Autism starting school or are you struggling with developing a meaningful connection with your child’s teachers? Download my free e-Book Http://www.schoolwithautism.com
Are you waiting for ABA services for your child to start or would you like to learn how you can help your child get the most out of ABA therapy. Check out my book on Amazon designed to help parents just like you.
https://www.amazon.com/Parents-Introd…
Let’s connect on social media:
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Disclaimer:
This video is intended for information purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. The text, graphics, images, flash movies, and audio segments are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
The information contained in this segment is generalized. It may not be applicable in every situation. Before applying specific interventions, consult a behaviorist. Any behavior intervention can result in an undesired change in behavior if not implemented correctly. No client relationship is established as a result of watching these videos. Jessica Leichtweisz and Hope Education cannot be held responsible for any misuse of the information contained in these videos.
