Zoom Autism Magazine Summer 2015 (Issue 4) | Page 68

Autism

R

emember the old children’s rhyme,
“I scream, you scream, we all scream
for ice cream?” I’m willing to bet that,
when you were chasing down the ice
cream truck, not once did you ever stop
to think about how much autism is like a
sundae! Okay, to be honest, none of us at
ZOOM thought about it either until our
new friends at AuKids shared an article
they ran in their magazine. Once we read
it, we knew we needed to share an edited
version of this sweet (pun intended) knew
way of thinking. So say goodbye to rainbow spectrum comparisons, graphs under
an umbrella and puzzle pieces and hello to
this new way of explaining ASD, aka ©Autism Sundae Dessert. *Warning: Reading
this article may make you hungry!

How to make an Autism Sundae

with a Cherry on Top!

(and sprinkles, and whipped cream and, ooh, some gooey hot fudge sauce, too!)

have just a dollop of each. And the amount
a person has of each flavor today could be
different tomorrow. The point is that, as
long as the bowl contains all three flavors,
you have the basic ingredients for ASD,
Autism Sundae Dessert.

Autism sundaes can have all sorts of extras
that we have not included here, but a
must-have is sprinkles. You see, every person on the spectrum has unique characteristics, and what better way to refer to those
characteristics than as colorful sprinkles!

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ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses

Graphics courtesy Jo Perry at Periscope Studios Ltd, UK.

Step 1: Gather your ingredients.

While autism certainly comes in many
different flavors, there are three key ingredients to make this recipe: Chocolate
- difficulties with communication, Vanilla
- difficulties with social interactions and
Strawberry - repetitive behaviors and
restricted and/or hyper-focused special
interests.

Step 3: Add sauce.

In this recipe the sauce represents sensory
issues. It’s hard to learn social rules when
you’re defending your nervous system
from sensory overload. This is what makes
defining a person’s autism so hard. Is it a
large scoop of vanilla in the bowl or maybe just a regular size scoop with a lot of
hot fudge dribbled on top?

Step 4: Add Sprinkles

So, the next time you meet an autistic person, think of this recipe and remember: No
two sundaes are alike, and the person you
just met is so much more than just a bowl
of ice cream!

Step 2: Scoop all three ice cream flavors into one bowl.

But remember that not everyone receives
equal scoops of ice cream. Some bowls
may have a lot of chocolate and just a little
vanilla and strawberry. Another bowl may

The above article was edited from the original piece
©The Autism Sundae Dessert, which appeared in
AuKids magazine Summer 2013 issue.

ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses

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