3 FAMOUS PERSONS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Write a short description/detail about their personal lives.
Then, answer the following questions:
a. How were they diagnosed or assessed?
b. What placement/accommodation/intervention did they receive?
c. Who were the people who help them get through their special needs, and how did these people help them?
1. Jessica-Jane Applegate – Athlete
Jessica-Jane Applegate is a paralympic swimmer, born on August 22, 1996, at James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, England. She was born premature and spent most of her childhood under research in Norfolk and Norwich Hospital for her unusual bone and muscular condition. Her mother took her swimming for the first time as an infant and then started her training at the Lowestoft and Oulton Broad Swimming Club in England at age 10. During her primary school, she was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome after discovering her difficulties in communicating, interacting socially, obsessive behavior, low academic performance, and poor concentration. Similarly, she also struggles with her daily routines in her training, such as understanding sets, reading sessions, reading a pace clock, and remembering techniques.
As a child, Applegate was hyperactive. Initially, her doctor offered her medication; however, Applegate's mother wanted her to try alternative things. She was determined to let Jessica join a sports club to cope with her condition. She first learned to swim in the Ashley Downs special school in Lowestoft and then transferred to the Lowestoft and Oulton Broad swimming club. In 2011, the pool was closed for renovation, and she moved clubs and joined the City of Norwich. Shifting clubs was a massive step for Jessica's routine, but she was able to cope with the changes with commitment and constant practice. Basically, her life follows a cycle of sleep, swim, and eat.
In 2012, she became the first British swimmer with an intellectual impairment to win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games, an international sports competition for athletes with any disability. She also achieved success in the 200m Freestyle S14 swimming event for women (S14 is the classification of intellectual disability), thus setting a world record for the Paralympics on September 2, 2012. Consequently, in 2013, At the IPC World Championships in Montreal, she won a gold medal in the 200m freestyle, a silver medley in the 200, and a bronze medley in the 100m freestyle event. In 2015, she was named the Para-Swimming Athlete of the Year at the British. She also received the name of Female Sports Personality of the Year at the Norfolk Sports Awards in the same year (bbc.com, 12 Nov 2015). In 2016, she was entitled Female Sportsperson of the Year at the Norfolk Sports Awards in England (greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk, 17 Nov 2016).
Applegate's achievements have not come without huge sacrifices. She is thankful for her rigorous training, her teammates in City of Norwich's unending support, her coach Alex Pinniger, and, most notably, her mother and family. Her mother was the most influential person in her whole career. She made everything possible for Applegate from her therapy sessions, schooling, driving, making her website and bookings, paperwork, race entries, and almost everything. "My family has been a huge support during this - my mum has given up so much for me, she drives me everywhere, supports me, sorts my nutrition, does my paperwork - I am so grateful." (greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk, 23 April 2016). Her understanding coach, Alex Pinniger, has also made a huge part. In one of her interviews in 2013, Applegate stated, "I really struggle to cope with people socially. I don't like any changes, and trying to concentrate on more than one thing is so difficult, but my coach is very understanding. We have a timetable for everything, so I have a good routine. We make plans to keep calm, and we always have a backup plan, so I feel safe." (edp24.co.uk, 29 Jun 2013; insidethegames.biz, 22 Feb 2013)
Applegate's swimming career had given her a purpose, routine, discipline, confidence, and social skills. She strongly believes it helped her to deal with her impairment. In one of her statements, "From the moment I first jumped in the water, I knew that I wanted to swim, I felt like I could escape in the water and I could go to a safe place where no one could hurt me. I may not have been excellent to start with, but having a learning disability has never held me back from achieving my dreams. I know that it is not easy for people with a learning disability. Lack of understanding about a learning disability means that things that everyone takes for granted are made impossible for people with a learning disability. However, I am proof that if you have got the right support, you can do anything, and anything is possible." (specialolympicsgb.org.uk, September 11, 2019).
2. Jacob Bernett - Physics Prodigy
Jacob "Jake" Barnett is an American autistic physics genius and former mathematics and science child prodigy, born on May 26, 1998, to Kristine and Michael Barnett in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. He is the youngest person ever to be published in the physics journal; Physical Review A.
Jacob was diagnosed at an early age with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism. When he shows regression at the age of two, his parents became concerned, as they were told he would never read or tie his shoes. At this time, his parents provided him with all of the typical autistic therapies from Occupational, Physical to Speech Therapy. In one of his sessions and special treatment, "floortime" therapy, an examination which determines children's interest by providing various objects for them to play. Jacob had a surprising early interest in astronomy and would repeatedly study star books.
During his primary school, Jacob's parents sent him to a special education program in the public school system. However, by the time he reached third grade, they realized that he needed more than the average special education. Jacob aced astrophysics at the end of the semester at eight years of age. By fifth grade, he withdrew from his public school following his psychologist's advice. Surprisingly, at the age of 10, he taught and mastered himself in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus within two weeks to prove he was ready for college. Consequently, he took the entrance exam at Indiana University, Purdue College Indianapolis (IUPUI), and was the first lad to be admitted. At 13, he was a college undergraduate, taking advanced math and physics honors courses while conducting scientific research and tutoring fellow students.
In 2013, at the age of 15, he took his Ph.D. at Perimeter Scholars International, a master's-level course in theoretical physics, the youngest to be accepted in the program, specializing in Quantum Foundations and Quantum Gravity. He told 60 Minutes' Morley Safer, "autism is the reason why I am in college, and I am so successful." He is said to have a 170 IQ, higher than Einstein.
3. Matt Savage – Musician
Matthew "Matt" Savage is an American autistic musician savant. A jazz musician, bandleader, composer with ensembles of different sizes, and a Bösendorfer piano artist. He was born on May 12, 1992, to Diane and Lawrence Savage in Sudbury, Massachusetts. He has recorded thirteen albums as a leader and one as a collaborator.
Savage was a precocious infant; he began to develop certain abilities at an earlier age, unlike usual children his age. By the time he was 18 months old, He had learned to walk and read. At the age of three, he was diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder, a form of autism. He had undergone intensive therapy and special diets. During his early childhood, he did not like any noises or have shown interest in music. Oddly, at age six, he started to teach himself to read piano music. For less than a year, he learned classical piano. After discovering the genre of jazz music; it became his primary obsession.
Initially, Matt attended public school in Boston with a part-time aide. He was hyperactive, engaged in repetitive motions, had difficulty socializing with other children, and lasted two days in preschool before being kicked out. After getting an autism diagnosis at the Children's Hospital in Boston, his parents, Diane and Larry, started researching his condition and seek care for their son. At the age of 4, he began his audio integration therapy in Boston, which lasted for two years. During his interview in WFDD's David Ford in 2017 during the ABC of NC fundraising luncheon at the Millennium Center in Winston-Salem. Matt stated, "I was diagnosed with autism at age three, and I definitely had much sensory aversion. So, I was put through many different therapies. However, the one that really helped was auditory integration therapy, which was gradual sound desensitization. It really helped a lot, and right afterward, I started picking out nursery rhymes on a toy xylophone piano and then started the real piano the same week." In the fall of 1999, at the age of 9, His parents enrolled him in classical music studies, where also he started studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Despite having musical studies, Matt's parents homeschooled him until 15, earning his GED, as they felt he was too young to go to college. They spent the next years training him for Berklee. Matt's mother has become the most influential person in his life. She plays the piano for him. "At about 15 months, I would play 'Linus and Lucy' and the third movement of the 'Moonlight Sonata,'" Diane recalls on the phone from her New Hampshire home. Playing piano has also turned out to be an effective therapy for Matt. It helped him with his gross motor skills. Diane says, "He has learned a certain amount of flexibility, which is hard for him. Children with autism also tend to fixate on rituals and doing things in exact and perfect order. If he makes a mistake while practicing, he has to go back to the beginning. He cannot just pick it up. However, he is learning. He jokes that if you make a mistake, you have to keep going". Accordingly, hyperlexia and perfect pitch are among Savage's talents. Combined with his exceptionally high intellect, these skills have also helped him gain other distinctions, such as winning the National Geographic Bee.
Matt has released his first album at age 7, formed his own band "Matt Savage Trio" at age 8, has performed in prestigious festivals and competitions worldwide, and has won several ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards. He became an accomplished musician and music composer over the years. At a young age, he was able to play alongside Dave Brubeck, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Jon Faddis, Marcus McLaurine, and Kenny Washington, a few to mention. He has been featured worldwide on NBC's "Today Show," ABC's "20/20" and "The View," Montel Williams, the Discovery Channel, and Lifetime Television's "Beyond Chance." Heralded by Dave Brubeck as "amazing" and "another Mozart," and by Chick Corea as "delightful and inspiring," He became a big hit at the famed Blue Note and Birdland in New York and the New Orleans Jazz Festival. He has been featured multiple times in People magazine, Jazziz magazine, and Time Magazine and is the only child signed by Bosendorfer Pianos as a Bosendorfer artist. (kennedy-center.org)
Currently, he is teaching at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston and with several community music colleges in eastern Massachusetts. He balances his music career with teaching and has master classes and seminars both domestically and globally.
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