Guidance for Grown-Ups
September 2007
Taking Action for Autism

Taking the Lead on Autism Awareness
(link back to feature)

This Discussion Guide contains the following Activity Sections:

1. The Answers to Your Questions



2. Problem Solving: Exploring Options, Giving Advice



3. Make a Historical and Global Connection: Changing Options

I. The Answers to Your Questions

The purpose of this activity is to educate teens about autism.

1. Explain to the teens that research, ideas, and approaches to autism - like any other disease or disability - are always changing. But you are hoping to provide them with a simple overview. The main message to convey is that autism is a "spectrum disorder*," which means that persons with autism can exhibit a combination of behaviors in varying degrees of severity. According to the Autism Society of America (ASA), "Two children, both with the same diagnosis, can act completely different from one another and have varying capabilities." To help illustrate, the ASA has a list of common autistic traits:

• Insistence on sameness; resistance to change
• Difficulty in expressing needs, using gestures or pointing instead of words
• Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language
• Laughing (and/or crying) for no apparent reason showing distress for reasons not apparent to others
• Preference to being alone; aloof manner
• Tantrums
• Difficulty in mixing with others
• Not wanting to cuddle or be cuddled
• Little or no eye contact
• Unresponsive to normal teaching methods
• Sustained odd play
• Spinning objects
• Obsessive attachment to objects
• Apparent over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain
• No real fears of danger
• Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme under-activity
• Uneven gross/fine motor skills
• Nonresponsive to verbal cues; acts as if deaf, although hearing tests in normal range.

2. It may also be helpful to the teens to understand that as many as 1.5 million Americans are believed to have some form of autism; autism is growing at a startling rate of 10-17 percent per year; autism knows no racial, ethnic, social boundaries, family income, lifestyle, or educational levels and can affect any family, and any child; and although the overall incidence of autism is consistent around the globe, it is four times more prevalent in boys than in girls (Autism Society of America).



3. In a group discussion format, ask the teens if they have any firsthand experiences with autism. Can they describe their experience? In what way do they sympathize with persons with autism? What about with their siblings?

II. Problem Solving: Exploring Options, Giving Advice

The purpose of this activity is to learn about how one young woman, whose brother has autism, took action on behalf of her families and other families experiencing autism.

1. Ask the teens to read "Taking the Lead on Autism Awareness," the Teen Voices' interview with Alexandra Abend.


2. Ask the teens to imagine that Alexandra Abend was coming to their school to talk about her experience organizing Autism Family Nights. Ask them to write an introduction for her that they would deliver before she spoke.


3. Abend describes many great action steps and ideas that she came up with in order to make Autism Family Nights a success. To learn from how she strategized and implemented her project, ask the teens to break down what she did into chronological bullet points. (For your assistance, here is a possible list):

• Talked about what families with autism need
• Wrote essay about the idea in application for Take the Lead
• Selected a restaurant
• Contacted restaurant's general managers
• Asked for dad's help contacting general managers
• Contacted the restaurant's regional vice president
• Educated restaurant staff about autism by sending letters
• Created event flyer
• Asked for volunteers at school
• Organized volunteers at school to help stuff and stamp mailings
• Contacted nonprofit organizations and special schools to help spread the word
• Responded to press interviews and emails from individual families

4. Could the teens in your group organize an Autism Family Night? Ask them to discuss how they would do it, where and when they would do it, and what steps they would need to take to make it happen.

III. Make a Historical and Global Connection: Changing Options

The purpose of this activity is to inspire teens to take action in their communities by learning about other teen activists.

1. Alexandra Abend credits some of her success to a program she participated in called Take the Lead, designed especially for female high school juniors. Young women must write an essay as part of their application for this program. Even if the teens in your group are not interested in (or eligible for) this particular program, ask them to respond to the following Take the Lead essay question in writing: "Please tell us about some issue that concerns you. It could be something specific to your school or community, like the quality of food available in the cafeteria, or the litter in a nearby park; or it could be something more global, like racism, sexism, or the environment. Please discuss the topic that you would like to address and clearly describe the source of your concern, who it affects, how it affects them, and why you care."



2. Ask the teens to consider why the previous writing exercise was useful, and how they could use what they've written to make their ideas happen.



3. Give the teens time to research programs, grants, or other types of support similar to Take the Lead.

Resources
Take the Lead at Mount Holyoke College: www.mtholyoke.edu

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P.O. Box 120027
Boston, MA 02110-0027
phone: 888.882.TEEN (toll free)
fax: 617.426.5577
email: teenvoices@teenvoices.com