Brigitte Harrisson - New Ways of Understanding Autism

Copyright Dundurn Press, 2019
Originally published in French under the title LAutisme expliqu aux non-autistes.
Copyright 2017 ditions du Trcarr. Published under arrangement with Groupe Librex Inc., doing business under the name ditions du Trcarr, Montreal, QC, Canada.

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Cover concept: Stefano Pietramala (STUDIO IANUS, Milan)

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: New ways of understanding autism / Brigitte Harrisson, Lise St-Charles, with Kim Thy; translated by Juliet Sutcliffe.
Other titles: Autisme expliqu aux non-autistes. English Names: Harrisson, Brigitte, 1961- author. | St-Charles, Lise, 1957- author. | Thy, Kim, author.
Description: Translation of: Lautisme expliqu aux non-autistes. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20189068701 | Canadiana (ebook) 2018906871X | ISBN 9781459743601 (softcover) | ISBN 9781459743618 (PDF) | ISBN 9781459743625 (EPUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Autism spectrum disordersMiscellanea.
Classification: LCC RC553.A88 H37213 2019 | DDC 616.85/882dc23

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This translation was made possible by the financial support of Socit de dveloppement des enterprises culturelles (SODEC). We also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country, and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. In addition, we acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Ontario, through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. Lan dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de lart dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

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J. Kirk Howard, President

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THE LANGUAGE SURROUNDING autism is currently in flux. Until recently, person first language was in general use a person with autism was preferred. The standard usage has been changing, however, as people with autism increasingly join the conversation. In New Ways of Understanding Autism, identification-first language is used an autistic person as it is becoming increasingly prevalent. Autistic people who prefer the term often explain their choice thus: autism is not something I have; autism is an integral part of who I am. Although a decision has been made on appropriate usage for this book, autistic people should always be consulted about how they would prefer to be addressed.

PEOPLE ARE CONSTANTLY asking questions about autism. How does an autistic person perceive the world? Why does she make all those movements? How does he feel? Is he all right? These questions come up all the time, and answers are often offered by people who arent aware of current developments in autism research in the scientific literature. So what are the answers?

This book aims to present clearly the directions suggested by recent discoveries and theories, combining knowledge of autistic functioning and a new understanding of what it means to treat autism. Descriptions are written from the perspective of an autistic person, to allow neurotypical readers a basis for comparison with their own experience. Until now, most writing on autistic function has been based on a neurotypical persons viewpoint, which led to an analysis that did not give a logical and coherent picture of autism. In this book, we bring together the lived experience of autistic people, real-life stories from parents, and suggested therapeutic approaches to show readers that there is hope for autistic people.

Brigitte: I remember a time when I was all alone, struggling to do what people told me to do, never enjoying life because everything I did was what others had asked of me. I could never be myself. I could never value myself as an individual because I was surrounded by neurotypical people who did the same things as I did, but for different reasons. I had a key ring that read Just visiting this planet. And that was my reality. I did things for other people. I could never do anything for me. The outside world guided my life. I wasnt in my own little world, but stuck, with my autistic brain oriented outward. I ate because it was lunchtime. My showers lasted seven minutes thirty-three seconds. And so on. Life had no meaning.

These approaches to interpretation and treatment come mainly from Fonctionnement interne de la structure de la pense autistique (Harrisson 1993), which are helping autistic people communicate. Just as sign language was developed by deaf people and Braille by a blind man, SCL was created by an autistic person.

Lise: Analyzing behaviour from ones own frame of reference is always tricky. If you dont know the frame of reference of another person or of a particular community, you can make big mistakes. One day I was in a conference room in a hotel. In the room opposite, some Japanese tourists were burping loudly during their meal. The people I was with were quick to remark on the rudeness of these tourists. I had to explain to them that in Japan, people do this to show satisfaction after a meal. In a Quebec context, the noises were perceived as a lack of manners, whereas in Japan they are valued!

The needs of autistic people are almost always interpreted in the same way from a neurotypical viewpoint. We analyze and treat each need separately, without any consistent reference to the autistic function described in the literature. For example, if an autistic person presents with a severe sensory sensitivity, we often try to increase sensory stimulation to help her get used to it. But we should instead understand that she is behaving this way because shes at a particular developmental stage; she is standing in front of a door that she cant open, so she cant move on to the next developmental stage.