Photo by Olivia Bauso on Unsplash
Here at The Orange Effect Foundation (OEF) our focus is on kids and early intervention. In keeping up with all the latest research on speech therapy we come across a lot of interesting information. Recently, two articles were written on the same day by The Guardian. They focused on women who always knew there was something different about themselves but didn’t know what it was. Unfortunately, they weren’t diagnosed with autism until later in life, but in every instance this knowledge changed their lives for the better.
Then I read the book, “The Good Sister” by Sally Hepworth. The focus of the book is on the relationship between two sisters, but one is dealing with a severe sensory processing disorder, common among people with autism. The book does a fantastic job describing this adult woman’s struggles with going places like restaurants and stores.
All these references got me thinking about the applications we see here at OEF. This past quarter, 3 of the 19 submitted applications were female. Isn’t that curious? Statistically, boys are more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls due to genetics, but that doesn’t account for the staggering differences we see in the applications received.
So, the articles from The Guardian had my attention. In the first, four women ages 28 to 50 shared their experiences growing up, how they knew they were different and how finally learning what that difference was changed their lives. In the second, a TV host speaks out about her late diagnosis and her advocacy to change the school systems as her son too was diagnosed with autism.
Sykes, the TV host, explains, “I always put it down to being the youngest in my year. I left school at 15, and I just thought I was less mature than the others, but I now know the education system wasn’t set up in a way that I was able to function there. It crowbars you into a certain way of thinking and being, and if you don’t fit the bill you get left behind. That’s why we need to tear down the education system and rebuild it, so it suits everyone.”
There are so many physical and mental health issues that we continue to learn more and more about. While I hope that society will encompass them all, I hope that here at OEF we continue to not only help by funding children’s speech therapy but also by educating others who may interact with these children.
Knowledge is power and it’s my hope that autism awareness continues to grow.
