An Autistic Student Makes History

[BirthaBlue4]

An Autistic Student Makes History

http://www.wusa9news.com/news/news_a...?storyid=39706


Sean Sokler has full spectrum autism.
He uses a machine to communicate, twists his shirt incessantly, and often stares off into space.
But inside the nervous exterior is a thirsty mind- eager to grasp a formula scrawled on the blackboard.

It has to do with quantum mechanics and mathmatics.

“ Sean is a true inspiration. He's one of the best students I have in my class”, says teacher Rita Sambruna.

“I think he's the teacher here. He's been my teacher”, says Sean’s mother Barbara Cunningham.

In 4th Grade, the experts concluded Sean had an IQ of 18.
But he's blown through everyone's expectations.

“They told us he was going to die, of a chromosome problem”, says Cunningham.
For six years, Sean has studied psychology at George Mason University.
And this week, he joins an elite cadre.
Only three people with full spectrum autism have ever graduated from an American University.


Sean uses something called facilitated communication. Every term paper, every question in class, has to be typed out one letter at a time on something called a light writer.
Critics have suggested it's just hype.
But Sean's assistant knows it's not.

“ I don't go around telling girls they're attractive. And when Sean types that, I'm not the one saying it”, says Angie Natale.

And Sean communicates in more than just English.
He's fluent in four other languages.

Deborah Wyne runs George Mason's Disability Resource Center.

“ I feel great about it, because when he first came in, I didn't know. I though will he be one of those who will graduate. I feel great, he's a success story” says Wyne.

Sean hopes to be an example for others.

He believes everyone with disabilities should know they have choices.

[Honeykiss1974]

Go Sean! This is such a awesome story proving that no one is a mistake - we all have a purpose to life.

[Kevin]

I went to HS with an autistic girl. She was one of those idiot savante types (sorry if that's not the correct identification). She also attended my university, and the last time I spoke with her, she was doing okay as a French ed major. I have no idea who would hire her though.

I recall her being very gullible, as well as religious (some might say that the two often go hand in hand?). Anyhow, I had her convinced at one point that praying could only be done in Latin. That's what the Pope told me at least.

Maybe you had to be there to think it was funny...

[Honeykiss1974]

Holding…back…comment...because that was not nice (or funny).

[Kevin]

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974
Holding…back…comment...because that was not nice (or funny).

As I said -- you weren't there.

And it was very funny.

[sdblonde07]

Originally posted by ktsnake
I went to HS with an autistic girl. She was one of those idiot savante types (sorry if that's not the correct identification). She also attended my university, and the last time I spoke with her, she was doing okay as a French ed major. I have no idea who would hire her though.

I recall her being very gullible, as well as religious (some might say that the two often go hand in hand?). Anyhow, I had her convinced at one point that praying could only be done in Latin. That's what the Pope told me at least.

Maybe you had to be there to think it was funny...

Autistic people don't have the capacity to understand sarcasm. My older brother is mildly autistic and I remember when I was younger (before I understood this), if he asked a question with an obvious answer such as "where's the car?", I'd reply with "the aliens took it". He'd just stare blankly at me and say "what aliens? what are you talking about?" and just didn't get it at all. I didn't really understand why he would act like that until I started reading about autism.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by sdblonde07
Autistic people don't have the capacity to understand sarcasm. My older brother is mildly autistic and I remember when I was younger (before I understood this), if he asked a question with an obvious answer such as "where's the car?", I'd reply with "the aliens took it". He'd just stare blankly at me and say "what aliens? what are you talking about?" and just didn't get it at all. I didn't really understand why he would act like that until I started reading about autism.

Yeah, that's why it was funny.

I must be a really horrible person, right?

I have a little cousin who is 10 years old with Asberger's (spelling?) Syndrome. It's a form of Autism and is frequently called High-Functioning Autism. He doesn't do all that well with school but he does pass his classes. Even though he has trouble with school, he is VERY creative and speaks intelligently. He loves to draw cartoon characters and does extremely well at it. I honestly think he could eventually be an animator for an animation company if someone would give him the chance. He's extremely talented when it comes to drawing.

[sdblonde07]

Originally posted by ztawinthropgirl
I have a little cousin who is 10 years old with Asberger's (spelling?) Syndrome. It's a form of Autism and is frequently called High-Functioning Autism. He doesn't do all that well with school but he does pass his classes. Even though he has trouble with school, he is VERY creative and speaks intelligently. He loves to draw cartoon characters and does extremely well at it. I honestly think he could eventually be an animator for an animation company if someone would give him the chance. He's extremely talented when it comes to drawing.

Yeah, my brother has Asberger's syndrome too. I believe that it's very mild most of the time, and many of the kids are referred to as "little geniuses" because they generally are very smart or excel at things they are interested in. I seem to remember reading an article about a 5-year old with Asbergers who was pretty much a professional piano player. My bro is an expert on cars; ask him anything about any car and he can rattle off pretty much every feature, similar cars, prices...anything.
It has even been theorized that Albert Einstein may have had a mild form of Asberger's syndrome. If you're interested in learning more about Autism, Dr. Temple Grandin from Colorado State University is a high-functioning individual with autism and wrote a book about her experiences called "Thinking In Pictures".

[Taualumna]

People with Aspergers can also go on and on about a certain subject or subjects, and may even seem like they're lecturing. They don't have the ability to know that what they're doing is rude, even if they've read every etiquette book out there.

[midwesterngirl]

There is a child in my daycare with Asperger.Mentally he is fully functional,perhaps even possibly advanced.He can even be grossly manipulative.However,he has zero social skills and often has trouble functioning in even small groups of people.I feel so bad for him because he wants so much to make friends but has absolutely no clue how to do it.We do the best we can to help him out but bless his heart,the socialization skills just aren't there.He likes to hang around younger kids because the younger kids will listen to him just because they think he is cool because he is older.The older children his age just seem to baffle and frustrate him. All of his caregivers,including the mom,have to be really careful with him though because he will approach anyone because he thinks anyone and everyone is his friend.

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally posted by midwesterngirl
All of his caregivers,including the mom,have to be really careful with him though because he will approach anyone because he thinks anyone and everyone is his friend.

My nephew has Asperger's' and this was a problem for us when he was younger. It was really frustrating, because sometimes you'd get some idiot kid who thought it was funny to make him do or believe something totally was absurb, but because he perceived that person as his friend, he'd go along. Now as a teen, he knows the difference just like any of us do.

He also had social skills problems as well (still do in a way because he can be shy sometimes - except around girls ), until he discovered things that he was good at (like music) and learned to make friends through his music classes. Being actively involved in our church's youth group also helped him develop socially as well.

[Dionysus]

Something about my young adults' community group at church attract these kind of folks. There's one guy who asks how old people are RIGHT after he meets them. He's like "Hi, what's your name?" *the other person answers* "So, how old are you? I'm 26!" There's this one girl who asks like 20 questions during teachings and she goes on and on and on. Once our community group was doing a trash pick up and we discovered a cat skeleton. She called the cops as if it was a human's dead body or something.

I can't talk that much. When I was younger, I was that kid that would say anything. Eventhough I didn't have Asperger's, my ADD totally screwed up my social skills, mostly because I would impulsively say what was on my mind, even if inappropiate. I remember my grandma tellling me to refuse food from a neighbor's house because their house is dirty. So, like a week later when I was at that neighbor's house they asked me if I wanted something to eat. I said "No, I'm not allowed to eat here because my grandma says your house is too dirty!" If people asked me if I liked their shoes or something and if I didn't I would say NO. Whenever people complimented me, instead of saying "thank you", I said "I know!". I swear I wasn't purposely being a bitch. That didn't start until my teens.

[MissMonika]

My son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome this year (he is 5). He loves Books and has no time for people under 10 years old. i call him a grown man born late. His major challenge is that it is hard for him to communicate with children his own age due to his large vocabulary (he reads at a 2nd grade level). For this reason, he would talk with children and they would have a blank look on his face. He is going to speech therapy to help with his social skills. The hardest thing is going through any public school district with a learning difference you cannot "see."

[BirthaBlue4]

Well, with Autism and Asperger's, a big thing is social skills and communication. Its possible to have good cognitive ability, but these other two areas are shot. Lots of gains can be made in the right school with good teachers.


Case in point this one boy, who we'll call David, went into my training school at the age of 3, 99% nonverbal, delayed all over the place. But the time I worked with him when he was 5, someone without any knowledge of autism would have never known he was autistic, just...querky for lack of a better term. His cognitive ability was over his age, he could talk, which he did a LOT, but his social skills were still low. Except for his attention to one little girl in class. He followed her and it was obvious he liked her, and vice versa. Which was good to see from him, something is better than nothing (he never got inappropriate, although he did try to kiss her once).


They had this story on the news, and the fact that he went that far, and is almost totally nonverbal, is crazy. He has to type EVERYTHING on this device that then "says" what he types. It makes you realize that whining over silly stuff is dumb. If he can do all that, we all need to shut the hell up and step up our games.