Autism Is a World, Essay Example

Susie Rubin has scored as high as a 133 IQ and attended Whittier College.  She was taking classes to earn a bachelors degree in History.  Despite being autistic, she was able to communicate through typing on portable keyboards and made presentations to large groups of people that were all pre-written with help from her support staff.  She is able to do many things that autistic individuals are seldom known for, and has helped re-define the way researchers examine the effects of autism on socio-physiological person.

Rubin is able to provide counseling and support to other autistic individuals, which was shown in the video as she presented her speech and accepted questions from the audience.  Furthermore, she wrote the documentary and works to explain the problems surrounding living with autism and the daily battles that she has had to overcome throughout her life.

Very few expectations are thrown upon the shoulders of Susie Rubin.  Her support staff, parents and neighbor understand that she is intelligent and can communicate, so they do not tolerate her lack of focus or tantrums.  Other than that, she lives her life and receives the support she needs, when she needs it.  The college expects her to be able to provide educational knowledge on her coursework and does not reduce the standards for her handicap.

She continues to emphasize throughout the documentary, courses, and in her speech presentation that she is intelligent.  She communicates this to her neighbor and the doctor she met with that was an expert on autism.  While Rubin desperately wants to be accepted and not viewed as retarded, she must struggle to overcome her autistic behaviors and work with her support staff to accomplish even the most simple of tasks.

Most of her relationships are with the people that help care for her.  Her paid support staff, her neighbor, and her parents are the strongest social relationships that she is able to have.  Towards the end of the documentary, we see that she also has a professional relationship with the professors at Whittier College.  Her support staff is her friends, and they even take her out for drinks from time to time.  They help provide her with guidance and assist her in earning her degree and giving intellectual presentations.