Saturday, November 12, 2016

Are We Missing Out on the Potential of Science Students with Savant Autism?

Two of my most trusted longtime occasional advisors on how to help David achieve his full potential as a scientist have been Dr. Temple Grandin and Dr. Darold Treffert. According to these two experts on the subject, my son , Dr. David M. Nisson appears to be the first publicly recognized American with More-Profound, "Level 2-3", aide-dependent autism to earn a doctorate in physics from a highly-ranked university. Sure, physics and math students with high-functioning autism is a stereotype ("Big Bang Theory", right?). But as a child, David's autism was so profoundly affected that I was told to "consider an institution" for him. This advice was given me because David's condition of super-high scientific intelligence mixed with dangerous levels of autistic distractibility ("Savant Syndrome Autism) is rare... the educational system just isn't set up to accommodate people like my son.

Although their condition's rare, I suspect that there are many "David Nissons" out there - mopping floors, stocking shelves, doing factory work, whose much-needed mathematical and/or scientific skills are wasted because our educational system is wasteful?

Here's what I mean:
Throughout David's childhood, teachers and school administrators urged me to repress his interest in math and science, and to set about preparing him for an adulthood spent in unskilled, manual labor, supplemented by SSI, with supports from IHSS. They warned me that were my service as David's aide through college to result in his earning degrees to prove successful, he would lose his government supports because he would appear on paper to be higher functioning than is possible for him. What if he didn't end up being able to survive in the workplace? They warned me that this could leave him with neither government assistance nor the capacity to earn enough to survive. In other words, they warned me that for those whose parents plan poorly, a homeless shopping cart awaits.

Well, I prayed about it, ignored their warnings, made it this far, and with God's grace, everything seems to be turning out alright for David. However, as I now deal with the issues of transition that have arisen since David concluded college, it is with heavy heart that I must now warn the parents of the next generation of autistic children with High IQ to be very, very careful as they plan their children's education. Those early advisers were right in warning that the world's best academic schooling won't guarantee survival in the socially and politically complicated workplace. (See Autism Job Club, by Bernick and Holden). In order to create a society realistically able to both educate and then employ the more-profoundly autistic students, much systemic change lies ahead.

David's story elicits the following questions for all of us to discuss as we prepare to either educate, or to abandon, the potential within the Savant Autistic scientists of our future:
  • Should I have assured David's future food, housing, and safety protection by denying him an academic education?
  • Should I have prepared him for busing tables rather than for writing algorithms? (No offense to those employed as bussers; bussing is noble- and necessary- employment).
  • Can our planet and the people dependent upon it afford to waste the scientific resources inside all brains with mathematical skills due to racism, sexism, or in this case, a poorly structured system?                                              
        To quote Charlie Babbitt in the film Rain Man (1988):                                                                                  "That's amazing! He is amazing! He should work for NASA or something like that".

We need to reform the state and federal programs that keep autistic people alive during their transitions from college to employment, so that K-12 staff can feel ethical about encouraging savant autistic students and their families to pursue an academic education.

We then need to fund campus personal assistants to help science and math students at the more-profound level of autism complete their college education, as I did when I put my own career on hold to help my son through college. A combination of Regional Center and IHSS funding helped David and me, but will there be enough in "the pot" for the next generation?

I suspect that David and I may have slipped through the cracks of the system -- little cockroaches that we were... Looking down the decades ahead, I don't think that either my own state (California), nor our nation, has enough in the tax base to fund family members of aide-dependent autistic science students to help them attend college, thereby contributing their much-needed skills to basic science research.

Does this mean we give up on tapping the scientific resources trapped within the brains of America's Savant Autistic students?

Or, is 2 Minutes to Midnight time to establish a new system of coordinated public and private foundations dedicated for the essential task?

4 comments:

  1. Mary, I enjoyed this thoughtful and thought-provoking article. Having met David and enjoyed his company on several occasions, I wholeheartedly believe that he should have pursued the dream of getting a doctorate in physics. You displayed amazing courage and dedication (and faith!) throughout the many years that you devoted yourself to assisting David to achieve each milestone in his educational journey. David has much to contribute in this domain. I hope he will find employers willing to work with the reality of his constraints to take advantage of his brilliant scientific mind and genial personality. I greatly admire how you tailored many situations in order to prepare David to be successful, such as when you helped desensitize his reactions to flying in a plane so that he could attend conferences and present papers. I wish for an opportunity to present itself that is a good match with David's needs and temperament. Keep on posting! --Karen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Karen, thank you so much! As I said in another reply to another comment of yours, I'm so sorry to have taken so long to reply. I'm so busy that my blog has always needed to be the last thing on my to-do list. Now you have me wondering... I'm friends with quite a few people named "Karen"-- which Karen are you? Also, to update you, David has switched from research to website development. Have you heard about "UPchieve? It's a program that offers tutoring online for high school math students who can't afford to pay a private tutor. Teachers volunteer; students get help. David's one of their website developers. He loves it! (Along with physics, computers are another great interest for David). So, indeed an opportunity did present itself that's a good match. Thanks for your positive thoughts! Please reply if you see this, Karen. I would love to reconnect. (Even if I'm not sure which Karen you are... LOL... "Karen from the Graduate Restaurant"; "Karen from the UCD Science Library"; "Karen from Church?"... lots, and lots o' Karen's (and even a "Karin" with an i). :)

      Delete
  2. The odds are long for anybody's success in certain fields, but kids with a passion for something should always be encouraged to pursue their dreams.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Dan. I strongly agree, which is why I chose to back David's big dream regardless of the cost. Christ reminds us with some of his parables and quotes that God gives us our talents, so we shouldn't waste them, and for me that means that if someone needs help using his or her talents, then we need to help them. :)

    ReplyDelete

If you have a comment or question, you can write it here, or email me at marilew2005 @ gmail dot com. (No spam). Thanks!