Autism uncovered BY ESHANI MEHTA AND ALLISON YUAN
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hether it’s from Sheldon Cooper, a friend’s sibling or the news, autism is ubiquitous. Some view autistic individuals as anti-social pariahs with sky-high intelligence, but the true workings of autism are much more intriguing and complex. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is as a group of complex disorders involving repetitive behavior and social impairment. “Because it’s a spectrum, you have a huge range of kids,” said special education teacher Tania Yang. “There are individuals who are nonverbal. On the other end, there are individuals who are very successful.” Affecting around one in 68 children, ASD manifests itself in many mental complications. Autistic individuals may have difficulty interpreting non-verbal communication and expressing empathy toward others. Sophomore Kai Tsao has a brother, Aiden Tsao*, who was diagnosed with autism at three years old. “My mom told me stories about when he was young; he was really smart,” said Tsao. “But then gradually he went downhill. He stopped talking and became introverted.” Tsao has been helping and teaching his brother for as long as he can remember. Although interacting with Aiden can be challenging at times, Tsao has formed a tight bond with his brother. “A lot of times, I had nothing to do, so I would teach him stuff,” said Tsao. “I think that’s how I formed my relationship with him, by teaching him a lot of things. I was the one who taught him how to climb stairs, [and] how to dribble a basketball.” While most diagnoses occur at a young age, diagnoses can occur in the early teens and sometimes even well into adulthood. “I was diagnosed with autism toward the end of seventh grade, and I figured out that I was autistic when I read a book written by an autistic teen, and I thought, ‘that is me,’” said junior Puja Uppalapati. “I felt relieved because I already figured out there was
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children is autistic
something different about me.” While some autistic individuals are intellectually impaired, others show “savant” abilities. “You can have a kind of superbrain,” said Yang. “Some people on the spectrum have really good memory; if you like painting or music, that could totally trigger [an autistic individual] to be a great musician.” “Special interest is when you get into a topic and study about it a lot,” said Uppalapati. “I like to research the struggles of oppression and problems like that.” Scientists have not been able to pinpoint a cause of autism, but it is likely caused by abnormalities in brain structure or function. Genetics may also play a role. Although there is no cure for autism, therapeutic and behavioral interventions help remedy some symptoms and early ones are usually more successful than ones taking place in later years. “We learn a lot of social development automatically,” said Yang, “but a student on the autism spectrum would benefit from having a class for it, to teach them how to figure out subtleties and other items.” In Lynbrook’s special education program, different autistic students have different needs, but the teachers try to accommodate all of them. Some students have sensory issues so they are given something that’s similar to a stress ball for them to feel and hold on to. Others students feel comforted by weight, so they wear a weighted vest; additionally, one of the special education rooms has a service dog specifically for autistic students, which helps put them at ease. While therapy can be extremely helpful for some individuals, Uppalapati believes that some programs outside of school can also be dangerous. “Some therapists are more interested in pleasing the parent than doing what’s best for the kid,” said Uppalapati. “[For example], Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is supposed to teach kids how to talk but it ends up just teaching them how to pass as neurotypical, without teaching them communication.” Many people with autism have other related symptoms such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), sleep disturbances, and seizures. “OCD is something that for my brother, comes alongside autism. My brother lines up shoes neatly every time he comes home,” said Tsao. see AUTISM page 2
Challenge Success combats student stress BY RENUKA BELWALKAR
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n Oct. 15 Challenge Success, a student support program from Stanford University, hosted its first Lynbrook event in the auditorium. Juniors Eileen Mao, Justine Iwata, Andrew Park, Trevor Aquino, Eugene Yang and sophomore Jessica Peng initiated Lynbrook’s partnership with Challenge Success. The event was led by assistant principal Eric Wong, where eight other students shared their personal experiences. In the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, Challenge Success surveyed Lynbrook students on homework level and stress, and the results showed room for improvement. “It’s great that students are taking AP classes and honors and doing well in their SATs,” said Wong. “But I think that parents, teachers and students would agree that there is a lot of [pressure] going on underneath Lynbrook [such as] competition.” The survey showed that 44 percent of students did not find their schoolwork valuable. During the week, 30 percent of students spent ten hours on extracurriculars, and only 29 percent of students had more than two hours of free time. On average, students slept for five to seven hours per night.
“On one hand [the motivation] is great because it’s driving all of us to do great things, but that also comes with a cost,” said Wong. At the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, junior Eileen Mao immediately agreed when Wong approached her about involving Challenge Success at Lynbrook. “I wanted to support its goal of changing the [competitive] atmosphere at Lynbrook so that it’s not purely focused on academics and getting a 4.0 GPA,” said Mao. “Instead, [Challenge Success] places a student’s own definition of success in a passion.” At the event, many said they were exhausted on Monday mornings. Some said that they only looked forward to the end of class. The Challenge Success student team hoped to help parents understand their child better and develop closer relationships. “For parents, this is your time to listen to students talk about some obstacles that they encounter,” said sophomore Jessica Peng. The students participating in the fishbowl activity talked about high expectations from parents and peers, as well as why spirit, homecoming and clubs mean a lot to them. Many felt that these activities are an escape from work and a way to have fun, while some felt that these activities were moments
where students forget about competition and unite to reach a common goal. “I use [homecoming and clubs] as a way to put school aside,” said sophomore Garrett Riley. “It is hard to have fun at school because of all the pressure to be perfect.” With the pressure to be successful, students are resorting to break the academic honesty policy, as there are around 75 academic dishonesty cases yearly at Lynbrook. Wong then raised a question about why students are reluctant to be honest. “When you’ve done something wrong and you are honest about it, there’s more weight on the consequence rather than the honesty,” said senior Justin Robinson. Challenge Success at Lynbrook will be trying more activities in the future to reduce stress, such as having therapeutic puppies. While the student Challenge Success team wants Lynbrook students to maintain their achievements, it also wants to relieve the pressure that is placed on the students. “If you want to redefine the idea of success at Lynbrook and want to find ways to reduce stress contact us,” said junior Justine Iwata. “Many students have lost the passion to genuinely learn, and we are trying to get rid of that stigma towards learning.”
CROSS COUNTRY pg. 14 SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY—EPIC