Autism Generations

Betty Jarusiewicz has autism—and so do her three children and some of her grandchildren, as she says in a May 22nd article in the Ocean County Observer. Jarusiewicz, a neuron therapist, was speaking to parents and teachers at Lanoka Harbor Elementary School library in Ocean County, New Jersey. 12-year-old Joshua Tamburro also has autism and also spoke.

Said Jarusiewicz:

“When I was growing up, no one knew what being autistic was. They just looked at me as being odd and strange and later they wanted to study me from time to time……I didn’t have a clue socially as to what to do anyway. Social situations are difficult for us.

“It is not a learning problem, it is a brain regulation problem……..My son had a tantrum at 16 when he failed his driver’s license. He’s now very successful but a little different. We who suffer from this think differently. We think like Einstein, Jefferson and some others. We think with feelings, numbers, colors. We don’t think well in terms of words.

“At 71, I am just beginning to better understand this condition.”

Said Tamburro:

“It is very hard making friends…. Those that have (autism) like to fly solo as they get older. Once we learn something, we can’t stop doing it. Our brains are like a ping-pong ball in our head, there is just so many things going on. Autistic kids can’t lie and usually do what they are told to do.”

Thinking with feelings, numbers, colors—I have been wondering how much these are a part of my son Charlie’s thinking, along with music, over and above and rather than words. And ping-pong balls—along with watermelon—another metaphor for the brain, for the mind, to reflect upon.

For another transgenerational conversation between autistics—-artist Donna Williams and 11-year-old Lewis Schofield—see this interview about having autism and also artism, on boredom (and not being bored), and some of the problems with words and langugage.