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Understanding can lead to better life with autism
Friday, Feb. 27, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
Peter Gerhardt of the Organization for Autism Research talks about a transition to competent adulthood for young people with Autism spectrum disorders on Feb. 19 at the Autism-Asperger Association of Calvert County's regular monthly meeting at the College of Southern Maryland.
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People may soon start thinking twice when they see someone using a Bluetooth phone device.
Or at least those who were listening to educator Peter Gerhardt of Baltimore when he spoke at College of Southern Maryland Prince Frederick campus last Thursday night will.
In his presentation, "Getting a Life: Transition to Competent Adulthood for Young People with Autism," one of Gerhardt's many suggestions was that autistic adults who might be prone to talk to themselves use Bluetooth devices when in public to make it appear they are having a conversation with somebody else.
"We need to move away from autism as this mysterious disorder," said Gerhardt, who is president of the Organization for Autism Research and a teacher of autistic students.
Despite his current passion for the subject, he admittedly first came upon the developmental disability by accident when the course he initially wanted to take for some easy college credits was filled up and he ended up in an autism class instead.
"I didn't know about autism and I didn't want to be a teacher," he said in reference to his initial frame of mind when he walked into his first course on autism.
Gerhardt's attitude quickly changed.
"I didn't fall in love with autism … I fell in love with the possibilities," said Gerhardt, who decided to concentrate his teaching more specifically on adults with autism.
"Working with my older learners, my first job is to make them want to be a part of this interaction [between them and myself]," he said, explaining that many adults with autism are reluctant to connect with him as they are used to people coming in and out of their lives.
"A part of this, I think, is that across the spectrum, we teach the wrong skills … [the system] teaches stuff that's inconsequential," said Gerhardt in reference to activities like stuffing envelopes and stapling papers.
Gerhardt alternatively felt that learning to be "interdependent" through transition and social interaction is far more vital to people with autism leading a full life.
"Social skills and adaptive behavior will get you through times with no academics," Gerhardt said, adding that "none of us are independent. We're all interdependent; we rely on other people to do things."
He said that if people with autism can be taught to rely on other people, "that's competence."
An example of this Gerhardt gave was teaching people with autism to go to Wal-Mart. He first spoke to the store's manager to explain what he was doing and to find out who was the best cashier for his students. He then spoke to that cashier and told her to "talk to them, not to me," when his students were purchasing their products.
"Once one person starts to [become comfortable working with autistic people], other people want to do it; other people want to get involved," Gerhardt said.
Gerhardt also discussed the transition that takes place when autistic individuals go to college or start full- or part-time employment. He said he felt that quality of life was always the most important aspect in either of these initiatives, though "intense instruction" is necessary for adaptation.
"I can teach you how to make copies but the real skill is what to do when something goes wrong," he said in regard to people with autism entering the workforce.
As for college, Gerhardt said, "If your son or daughter is going to college, talk to people at the college. You think you know these things but I guarantee you don't because we're all so fluent [among those who aren't autistic]."
Gerhardt also said that safety skills must be efficiently taught to people with autism, and that these can range from learning how to use a cell phone to knowing how to use public restrooms alone. He said the latter of the two is especially important because as parents, "we think they're safe if we don't teach them, but the truth is if we don't teach them, they become more and more dependent and that makes them less safe."
Gerhardt's presentation was organized by the Autism-Asperger Association of Calvert County and the College of Southern Maryland and the association's vice president, Careen Wallace, was both thrilled and enlightened by Gerhardt's insights, though she said she had heard him speak several times before.
Wallace said in an e-mail that one of her biggest take-aways from Gerhardt's discussion was his message of, "When we can't teach the skill, adapt it. When we can't adapt it, get around it. And where we can't get around it, teach the rest of the community to understand."
