GLD E-portfolio
About Me: The Road to Advocacy Through Research
“Abby, you have autism.” This sentence hits me like a truck. How can my diagnostician think I have autism? How did I manage to go 18 years without a diagnosis, without anyone ever noticing that I’m different? How am I going to succeed in a world that is not made for me, where I am seen as less than? All of these questions coursed through me the days following my diagnosis as a woman with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I was shocked, I was confused, and I had the idea that, with this diagnosis, my life was over. I had the idea that there was no way I could succeed in the terms I had set out for myself if I had autism. Yet, after having time to reflect, I was able to look back at my childhood and all the difficulties I faced in everyday life and I realized that a diagnosis of ASD made my life finally make sense- as if all the pieces in a puzzle were finally connected and I could stand back and see the entire picture. While my autism diagnosis was at first a shock, I now see it as a given and as a strength.
The Beginnings
When I received my diagnosis the first thing I did was research. I wanted to find everything I possibly could about ASD and how it affects people, especially adult females. What I learned went on to impact my undergraduate career and every action I have taken up until this point. I learned about gender bias in ASD, I learned about masking (the ability to appear ‘normal’), and I learned how the perception of others and my own biases of what autism ‘looks like’ were completely wrong. From my connections to the autistic community on differing Facebook groups and autistic-run advocacy websites, I learned that many autistics experienced the same bias and errored perceptions that I did. We all had the same frustrations with neurotypicals (people who develop typically instead of divergently) yet many lacked the ability to voice these frustrations and cause real and lasting change. As an undergraduate at a university that focuses on research and application, I felt that I could help and institute the changes that we as an autistic community saw as necessary. I wanted to be an advocate for myself and for all the other autistics who were unable to.
The Research
Developing as an advocate first started by becoming a Research Assistant in Dr. Jessica Bradshaw’s lab, the Early Social Development and Intervention Lab (ESDI Lab) where she is dedicated to understanding the relationship between infant development and early detection of ASD. While working with Dr. Bradshaw, I was also able to conduct my own research. In this research, I learned about the importance of subtle the symptoms of ASD as well as the importance of putting these symptoms into real-world contexts. With this learning, I worked to create a study that seeks to identify the relationship between knowledge of ASD and acceptance of autistic behaviors on university campuses with a focus on subtle autistic behaviors. Through this study, I learned the importance of creativity and how to design and conduct an experiment that is supported by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Furthermore, with the creation of this study, I was able to educate my fellow research assistants on the importance of the subtle symptoms of ASD. My role and learning in the ESDI lab advanced my ability to be an advocate for the autistic community.
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Image: Me editing a draft of the IRB Application
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The Finale
My road to advocacy came to a crucial turning point when I realized that the problem does not lie in the lack of research about ASD but in the failure of research to transfer to practice. Thus, my honors thesis was born: an online workshop that educates faculty and staff about autism on college and university campuses from an autistic perspective. It is with this workshop that I am able to put all of my research and learning into practice. Continually, even though my time at UofSC is coming to an end, I am hoping to advocate for autistic students on this campus one last time. I will now be working with various offices on campus to implement the workshop so that through the workshop, I can continue to advocate for myself and other autistics who are unable to do so. I know that this is only the beginning of my road to becoming a powerful autism advocate and I am so excited to push forward towards the next chapter in my life.
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Image: As I am set to graduate and continue down my road of advocacy, the world really is my oyster
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