Autism through the lens of Social Skills
Growing up I learnt at an early age that my sister, Polly was not like everyone else in the family. I saw mom take care of her more than the rest of the family members and she was always keen with us when we were around Polly. As I grew up, I realized that her unique stature was so much different from the rest of us and she had likes and dislikes like everybody else. One day, mom and dad decided to open up on Polly’s condition to the rest of us and what they told us made us emotionally unstable. Seeing all the difficulty she had in walking and smiling and playing with the rest of the siblings, I came to and understood that Polly was autistic. “It was not the end of the world for her, she would be just fine, we love her and she is part of us” these thoughts came to my mind every now and then when I looked at Polly struggling to make ends meet.
This essay is attributes autism through the lens of social skills. Social skills refer to the customs, rules and abilities that guide the interactions between people and the world around them. By being able to get social skills, the autistic children are able to interact even without knowing the way they could engage friends and in some other cases, feel overwhelmed by new experiences. When Polly went to special school, we started seeing some amazing changes happening in her interaction both at school and at home. Hidden curriculum was very helpful in helping her learn the social norms in the society. Most of the people with autism have particularly strong areas in certain facets of life and feel bored with other areas. For Polly, for instance, getting social experience and discussing social rules were essential so as to clarify the hidden curriculum as well as make life more rewarding and socializing much easier. As she continued to grow up, Polly felt immense pressure to conform to the norms of the society. Life seemed to take a toll on her and she felt more insecure about herself in front of people, However she also started to feel more interactive with family and the few circle of friends she had. As she continued to grow and struggle throughout her education, Polly never seemed to lose hope in life and loved staying up late reading books and having books read to her. As she grew, we realized that her social skills were improving year on. She was empathetic but as she continued growing we realized that her social impairment was minor compared to her sensory challenges. To date, Polly is thirty three year old and married with a son and working in a rewarding career in a nonprofit world. She remains funny, talented and extremely creative to say the list. Her life taught me resilience and hope that in a limited world, it is possible to come out strong and confident and face the world because there is always hope for a better tomorrow.