The second half of our behind-the-scenes insights from a day of filming interviews for the “Future of Autism” video, which will open the conference’s first keynote session tomorrow morning. Read Part I.

“Hope never trickles down. It always springs up.” – Studs Terkel

Dr. Martha Herbert began one of her answers with this quote during our interview. It struck me that “hope” is a word we hear all too sparingly when we talk about autism. But it is something that really is springing up in the voices that have been brought together here in St. Charles. Dr. Herbert went on to say in her answer,

“It is time for the conventional wisdom of autism to change. And I think that change needs to come from surprising places. … I think the people with direct experience of autism have something to contribute that’s absolutely necessary and they need to have their voices heard and respected and all the different forms the voices may take.”

Hope springs up when those voices are gathered and listened to.

We’re going to turbo-charge the networks and we’re going to allow and give the capability to people on the ground, the ability to bring their observations together to share what they know, to create knowledge, to create science.

The theme of hope and positivity around autism was also reflected in the insights of Stephen Shore, who was our final interview in a long day of filming. When he was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2 ½, doctors recommended institutionalization. Instead, his parents implemented “what we would today refer to as an intensive, home-based, early intervention program emphasizing music, movement, sensory integration, narration and imitation. And again this is at a time when the terminology, this terminology did not exist. There was no concept of early intervention.”

This kind of forward thinking is what helped scientists leave the concept of “refrigerator mothers” in the past – and it’s what is helping us as we look to a new way of seeing autism in the future.

Over the years I’ve seen the view of autism change from something that is hopeless, something that needs to be eradicated, destroyed, eliminated. … In the future I would like to see us looking at autism not so much as a scourge on society but more as an expression of the human gene pool. Different people have different characteristics, strengths and challenges and just like everybody else – let’s find a way to use these strengths to lead fulfilling and productive lives.

Don’t miss the video and the panel discussion tomorrow! The session promises many insights.

- Carin Yavorcik

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