As a proud new member of the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities, I am always seeking to enhance my experience working with children and teenagers with disabilities, including those on the autism spectrum.
Any opportunity I have to learn about inclusive education as a vehicle for empowerment, I seize. So when I had the great opportunity to attend a lecture about sensory issues related to the autism spectrum, I jumped.
Dr. Stephen Shore, a professor at Adelphi University, presented about “Senses and Sens abilties: An Inside View on Autistic Sensory Issues” at Lesley University on January 5 as part of the Massachusetts Council for Exceptional Children’s 2016-2017 Professional Development Speaker Series.
Dr. Shore is a leading author and respected thought leader in the field of disabilities and special education. His world-renowned expertise is fueled by his own identity and experiences growing up on the autism spectrum.
My hope in relaying along several highlights from Dr. Shore’s lecture is to encourage others to learn more about his work and to translate his perspectives to their own education practices and policies.
His overall message can be encapsulated in this quote: “Having autism is not an excuse to not do something, but a key to figuring out how to get things done.”
The event centered on sensory issues associated with autism but included so much more. Early in his lecture, Dr. Shore separated participants into groups of five for a simulation activity of sensory overload.
After an over-stimulating five minutes, Dr. Shore debriefed with the group, asking how participants experienced the temporary sensory overload, how participants wanted to react, and how the activity might translate to working with people on the autism spectrum. As one might expect, common responses were: “It was so overwhelming that I wanted to scream and run out of the room!”
Looking around during the activity, several people flapped their hands, flinched, or jumped up and down in a panicked state. Sound familiar? These responses, of course, bring to mind behaviors individuals with autism might exhibit when over-stimulated. Dr. Shore’s activity was a simple yet powerful teaching tool that certainly deepened my personal understanding of sensory issues related to autism.
Throughout his lecture, Dr. Shore did a remarkable job of contextualizing self-stimulatory behaviors that are often viewed as non-functional: flapping, rocking, or running, as examples. He explained that, before the behaviors are labeled distracting and/or harmful, that they should first be understood as self-regulatory.
He also advocated for the use of perhaps-unconventional assistive devices as accommodations. The example he gave was wearing a baseball hat to work. In Dr. Shore’s experience, a baseball hat can be a form of self-advocacy and a reasonable accommodation if a person on the spectrum has sensory sensitivity to fluorescent lights. For an individual on the spectrum to advocate for accommodations is to leverage their strengths. As Dr. Shore remarked, “Everyone I know on the spectrum who is successful is successful because they use their own strengths.”
Through Dr. Stephen Shore’s lecture, I learned a great deal about sensory issues and advocacy for individuals on the autism spectrum. His personal story is inspiring and his message to educators is important and provocative. I encourage anyone interested in developing a richer understanding of autism spectrum disorders to follow Dr. Stephen Shore’s work at www.autismasperger.net.
--Julie Miller