“There is a popular
misconception that autistic people are either anti-social tech geniuses or Rain
Man-like savants. But research is increasingly showing that even
“low-functioning” autistic people might be smarter than neurotypical people in
certain ways”
By: Olga Kazan
Published: Sep 23,
2015; The Atlantic; http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/autism-hidden-advantages/406180/
Level of difficulty:
***
BEFORE YOU READ
You need to understand what autism is before you tackle the
text so access the videos below, watch and listen:
·
“What is autism?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4G0HTIUBlI
·
“Ask an autistic – what is autism?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vju1EbVVgP8
QUESTIONS
1. The
story of John and Michael and similar instances should not lead to the conclusion
that……….
2. The
case of Daniel Temmet is proof that some autistic people may……………………………………………..
3. The
autistic tech genius’ success with the venture capitalist is due to his lack of
planning / stage fright / emotion / language skills
4. Why
are autistic people able to understand numbers and patterns better?
5. The
reason why autistic people are better than normal people at processing complex
patterns is the fact
that...........................................................................................................................
6. Why
does Mottron work with Michelle Dawson?
7. Access
the video of the autistic reporter and watch it: http://www.theonion.com/video/autistic-reporter-train-thankfully-unharmed-in-cra-20098
. What feature of autistic people does the video highlight?
8. Read
Mattron’s experiment on creativity to the end. The major difference between the
neurotypical subjects and the autistic subjects was the fact that the former
suggested……………first while the latter went straight for ……………….
9. Read
the statements below. Then, access the podcast titled “NeuroTribes examines the
history and myths of the autistic spectrum” http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=436742377&m=436940063
( you can also access the podcast by
via the text which has a link; http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/autism-hidden-advantages/406180/
)
Are statements true or false according to the
podcast?
·
Both autistic people and neurotypical people
have their strengths and weaknesses
·
Not all autistic people are the same
·
Doctor Asberger made no effort to save his
patients from the Nazis
·
The terms “high functioning” and low
functioning” are derived from a presentation
·
Dr. Asberger said that the children could be
very useful
·
Not everything that steps out of line is
superior
·
Asberger framed autism more broadly than Connor
·
Connor believed nurture was to blame for autism
·
Connor saw autism as a psychiatric disorder
·
There was a sharp rise in the number of cases of
autism in the 1970’s
·
The Rain Man character developed cultural
awareness of autism
·
Wakefield misled the public concerning the cause
of autism
·
The autism parents movement aimed to improve the
quality of life of autistic people
·
Autism may be caused by high levels of
testosterone in the womb
·
Autism is caused by people marrying later and
having kids later
·
There should be more focus on making the lives
of autistic people better and happier
10. Write
down the first sentence of the conclusion of the text.
WRITING TASK
What is autism?
Use all the information you have gleaned to write an essay
describing autism to someone who knows nothing about it.
AUTISM’S HIDDEN GIFTS
KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES
This reading and
listening into writing activity introduces a problem which many may have
preconceptions about. The listening tasks have been integrated into the
questions this time round to emulate the way an individual would read a text on
line. The podcast is excellent both interms of quality of English and enunciation
and content.
1. When
autistic people are unusually skilled, those skills are impractical and not
connected to real intellect.
2. Possess
extraordinary abilities yet function at a high level
3. Emotion
4. Because
the autistic brain seeks out the kind of information it “prefers” to process while
ignoring materials –like verbal and social cues for example – that it doesn’t
like
5. People
with autism concentrate more of their brain’s resources on visual processing
and less on tasks like planning and impulse control
6. Because
autistic people have excellent memories (She has an excellent memory won’t do
on its own; you have to state that she is autistic)
7. The
fact that they are precocious at technical and visual tasks
8. The
easy answers / ingenious responses ( innovative uses although meaning wise
alright doesn’t fit the logic of the sentence as well.)
9. 1.
T, 2. T, 3. F, 4. T, 5. T, 6. F, 7. F, 8. F, 9. T, 10. F, 11. T, 12 T, 13. T, 14. T, 15. F, 16. T
10. This isn’t to suggest that the parents of
severely autistic children – some of whom are prone to tantrums and violence –
don’t face real challenges.
