Phil Martin-Autism-Carter

Autism:

Navigating adulthood with autism

Phil Martin: 

Phil Martin is a 28 year old adult living on the autism spectrum. Things were not always easy for him and oftentimes he has struggled to get to where he is now. His diagnosis came after repeating the ninth grade four times. Although he was having panic attacks and struggling throughout his childhood school years, it never really was a huge issue until high school. School became very overwhelming and very quickly. His excitement for the new chapter slowly faded and he hated that he had to attend school. It became that often Phil would not even attend school. He would hop on the bus and ride it to the train station. Where he would spend from the time school started until the time it ended riding trains, because they were his comfort. After his 4th time essentially failing, the school counselor wanted to meet with Phil to figure out why he was not passing. Phil was then tested for every developmental disorder there was. After weeks of testing, he was officially diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, ADHD, agoraphobia, and schoolaphobia. 

Self-Concept and Perceptions:

In his project, Autism Actually Speaks, Phil states when he was first diagnosed he was in denial. He did not know what autism was but he knew he did not have it. When he was transferred to a special education school, he refused to go his first day. He did not want to be labeled by others as the "R" word (Martin, n.d.). Once he had become comfortable and understanding in his own diagnosis, it was others who were not so understanding. People often told him he was too social and independent to be autistic so he must have been misdiagnosed. He would find himself getting offended and angry at these individuals (Martin, n.d.). 

Effects on coping:

Autism can be extremely hard on normal things in life. Relationships, jobs, even holding down a normal conversation can be difficult. It took quite a few trips to the psychiatrist to get Phil where he is today. All it took was that diagnosis for him to change his outlook on life. When he switched schools he suddenly understood what it was about normal school that had bothered him all along (Martin, n.d.). It took him switching schools to realize that maybe there were things about himself that were different from others. He learned what triggered him and how to avoid or cope with those situations. He learned he is not very good at reading facial expressions or expressing himself. He figured out he focused better looking anywhere but at someone who was speaking to him, or he developed "food allergies" because he was tired of people trying to get him to try new foods. 

Impacts on Physical Development:

Autistic individuals can experience delays in gross and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills are usually movements that involve the entire body to move. This also involves the large muscles to perform their everyday functions (Belsky, 2021). These can include things such as walking, running, riding a bike, or anything that requires hand eye coordination, such as catching a ball ( Laurie, 2022). Fine motor skills are the movements we make using our small muscles, usually the ones in our hands (Belsky, 2021). These can include things like balance, eye motor control, manual dexterity, hand/finger strength, or bilateral coordination (Laurie, 2022). Other physical conditions that could affect individuals with ASD are things such as immune disorders, gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, metabolic disorders, and seizure disorders (Amet, Blagojevic- Stokic, Shattock, & Whiteley, 2020). Early death is three times out of ten more likely in those with autism as well (Amet, Blagojevic- Stokic, Shattock, & Whiteley, 2020). 

Impacts on Physiological Development:

In recent times, research and studies have suggested that having issues with physiological and metabolic systems often lead to specific organs malfunctioning. In saying this it is believed that ASD can potentially arise from or involve physiological abnormalities instead of it solely being a central nervous system (CNS) disorder (Frye & Rossignol, 2011). 

Impacts on Social Development:

    Children living with ASD struggle to have social interactions and behaviors that intertwine with social interactions. This lack and struggle throughout their younger years may make it as equally as difficult throughout their adult life. They may have a hard time maintaining and even creating relationships, they have a hard time returning social interactions, and communicating with others (LaGasse, 2017). Individuals that lack these social skills usually have lifelong difficulties such as family and community interaction, academic success, self-worth issues, and the struggle with their independence (LaGasse, 2017). It is incredibly important that from a young age these social developmental issues are identified so that educational goals can be set to teach the individual how to move past and cope with these limitations. In targeting these limitations there is a chance to help lessen the negative effects in the future. 

References:

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzqrm4ScWzs

Belsky, G. (2021a, June 3). What are Gross Motor Skills. Understood. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/all-about-gross-motor-skills 

Belsky, G. (2021b, June 7). What are fine motor skills?. Understood. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/all-about-fine-motor-skills 

LaGasse AB. Social outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorder: a review of music therapy outcomes. Patient Relat Outcome Meas. 2017 Feb 20;8:23-32. doi: 10.2147/PROM.S106267. PMID: 28260959; PMCID: PMC5325134

Laurie, C. (2022, November 4). Autistic children and motor skills. Autistic Children and Motor Skills. https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/motor-skills-1#:~:text=autistic%20children%20often%20have%20difficulties,2002). 

  Martin, P. (n.d.). Autism actually speaks. Phil Martin. http://philmartinjr.com/autism 

  Rossignol, D., Frye, R. A review of research trends in physiological abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders: immune dysregulation, inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and environmental toxicant exposures. Mol Psychiatry 17, 389–401 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.165

    Sala R, Amet L, Blagojevic-Stokic N, Shattock P, Whiteley P. Bridging the Gap Between Physical Health and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2020 Jun 30;16:1605-1618. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S251394. PMID: 32636630; PMCID: PMC7335278.