It would give regular people more chances at employment too, I thought with a mental shrug. Would it not?
‘We barely have anything of either,’ I remarked.
‘That is precisely it,’ said the Doctor. ‘There needs to be long-term stay options. Family accepting the individual at home, yes, but that should not be the only option available as a rule.’
The Doctor lamented the misplaced emphasis on what is important for the children.
‘Parents tend to overemphasise the full-inclusion concept in schools. Sometimes, they forget about the most important thing – full inclusion in society,’ he said. ‘The child could outperform his peers academically. But if he faces overwhelming obstacles in working life, it counters the point of education.’
‘Focusing on social inclusion is much more important,’ he continued, then he fell silent, before adding, ‘As the child grows older, his or her needs change. These should be addressed.’
‘Is it our culture?’ I asked. ‘Over here we are academic hunters, after all.’
‘Not just here,’ said the Doctor. ‘Perhaps it is Asian culture. Students in places like Japan and Korea, too, for example, face extreme pressure to do well in school.’
I agreed with him when he pronounced it a big and raging debate. Some countries are beginning to review the full-inclusion approach. In the end, for those with ASD, what is important is their quality of life when they reach adulthood.
‘Here, we are still on the middle ground,’said he.
‘We need to start changing a little faster,’ said I.
‘There have been changes,’ said the Doctor, looking thoughtful. ‘But yes, we are not yet where we should be.’
The 14th Step
‘What about World Autism Awareness Day?’ I asked. ‘It is one of the only three medical conditions that the United Nations has designated its own “day” after all. I hear we began to celebrate it only last year.’
‘Yes, there have been small tweaks and changes, which hopefully will grow,’ said the Doctor. ‘The National University of Singapore DUKE medical students who started the movement are hoping it will gain momentum. Maybe we will all be able to make this bigger and better.’
I hoped so too.
The good Doctor was kind enough to give me copies of his research to read through. He had probably noticed me eyeing his bookshelves. Perhaps that will be a tale for another time. As it was, I thanked him for his time.
He added, just as I was concluding the interview, ‘Advocacy can be a strong thing. Look at what happened in North Carolina, where people came together to voice out about autism needs. They have autism support legislation now.’
‘We have people like myself, and I do the work that I do. And then there are those like yourself, who do yours. Together, we just might get the changes we are looking for.’
The 15th Step: The Voice of the King
I am going to tell you a story about the King. I call him that because that is his place on the chessboard. I had met and spoken with this King and he has told me his tale. Now, dear Reader, I shall in turn tell it to you.
The King has autism, only he is very good at hiding it.
From childhood, he had always been different in how he interacted with his surroundings as compared to other people. However The King did not find out that he had autism till he was seventeen years old, in 2000, after reading about it online. At eighteen, he was officially diagnosed by the Singapore Autism Resource Centre.
The King managed to enrol in a regular school and later earned a Diploma in Logistics Engineering and Management. He went on to work full-time at an office. He wishes to further his studies and learn about psychology or counselling. Most folks believe that he is what we want our special children to be like when they grow up. We forget that hiding autism does not make it go away.
Office politics baffled him, perhaps to the point that the people trying to manipulate him got baffled themselves. He had difficulty remembering things too, he said, and large work projects with big numbers of people were equally big problems.
His mother wishes for him to stay on the regular route, and would not hear of him doing anything other than a full-time job.
A while back, the King felt like he needed to escape. He frequently went overseas to share his autism experiences and had many adventures.
Once, a rich woman in Macau came up and offered to sponsor the King an education which involved advocating and learning more about autism. The King was happy, until all her promises fell through. Disappointed, he withdrew once again into his old life that did not understand autism.
Now, occasionally, when he returns to Macau, the King says he still enlists her aid to host autism talks there.
I asked him where he would head for if he could go anywhere. Australia, he said. He had heard about and seen wonderful things for people with autism in Australia. He also said maybe he would like to try living in the Philippines, as it is relatively inexpensive to do so.
The King eventually went back to his old life. It made him unhappy.
The 16th Step
‘What does make you happy?’ I asked. ‘What was your happiest memory as a child?’
‘I was happiest when I made new discoveries. I liked to find out how things worked. As a child I once retrofitted a laser with normal batteries, and attached it to a scope to see where the laser was pointing. My mother had a stall at a canteen at the time. Birds would land and strut about the stall and were a nuisance. I used my invention to keep them away, by aiming the light at them.’
‘I do Research for myself now,’ said he. ‘I research treatments – supplements like vitamins and such, and learning how to balance the iron and zinc levels in my body, so that I can function better in the World. I always calculate the safest approach to my Research.
