In the fourth interview of the Empowering Voices series, we meet - Vishal Anand, an autistic savant and spiritual young man who shares his lived experience and insights with us. This poem from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore is the best way to summarize my thoughts on Vishal's journey..
"The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.
I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.
It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself, and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.
The traveller has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.
My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said, “Here art thou!”
The question and the cry, “Oh, where”‘ melt into tears of a thousand streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance “I am!”
Welcome to My World
1Q) Please introduce yourselves to our readers.
Ans: I am Vishal Anand. I see myself as simple and humble boy with ASD as notable tag added as a plight of availing day to day trials in my life. I am pious in my openness of thoughts and of feelings.
2Q) Please share your hobbies and interests/passions with us.
Ans: I see the yonder in open sky, give attention to inviting rising electric havoc in old battered transformers, cycling. Am not a hobbyist but a lobbyist.
3Q) How do you cope when you’re having a bad day?
Ans: I am done with silence so I shout and apply sinful fiery anger in posing object threats. Gloom becomes boom in action until the fire reduces its heat.
4Q) What are glimmers in your life? (Glimmers are tiny micro moments of joy - fleeting, everyday moments that elicit a rush of happiness, gratitude, calm, peace, safety, or goodwill)
Ans: Hopping and frantic running, putting shy smile in my dozed face, divulge in good food something crisp and gourmet spicy. Food is my haven Annapoorani.
5Q) When did you realise that you are autistic?
Ans: Furore started from emerging early childhood, 4 years. ADHD, ASD LD. This is the pattern of my diagnosis. Before autism, was revelling on good play with mud and pots, after with blocks and dots. Clay replaced with plastic and wood. Doing things without perfection turned into planned output only. Follow my heart was before follow my brain was after.
Education and Workplace Experiences
1Q) What are your experiences in school/college... What challenges do you face?
Ans: I don’t face any cup of tea experience in my college but it is also not open house pity. I don the hat of introvert boy and dodge my condition. I seek sincere appreciation from lecturers and masters. I simply omit my old load of special child onus and hold on to the olive leaf of good student in books. My exams are kind of a coalition between scribe and my moods to recite the answers. Lots of faces, noises and timeless free time are my lingering moment of reality.
2Q) How do you cope with these challenges?
Ans: Understand my lottery to normal college grad going mission, be jinxed on noiseless presence, and go into frantic panting when called out in public. I rot in hell in my brain with void sober thoughts that go high in homely suppertime serials. My plate of intellect is long dragged to entertainment than unleashing physics marvels in operating products like lighting and power. I tip them off as my fate and move on.
3Q) What accommodations (physical or changes in the mindset of people around you) would help you thrive in this scenario?
Ans: Loud noises can be controlled by finding soundproof rooms in every place. Giving us prior information should endure our anxiety. Hobbies kindled in real time experiences voice out my other end of spectrum- savant skills. Monitoring my task finds me highly pensive in mood.
Sensory Challenges
1Q) Please share your sensory world with us.
Ans: I follow noise in my vicinity, I fear noise loud and shrill, and umpteen filmy outing like lights lock my vision.
2Q) How does it affect your daily life?
Ans: Loner I am as I can’t handle people in close chamber. I prefer to be liked for my mindful talent in accessing creative presence of mind moving from photography, yonder blogs and light mystery in colours embracing physics..
3Q) What accommodations (physical or changes in the mind- set of people) around you would help you thrive?
Ans: Mere interest in my work than my words. Unlock my anxiety with warm smile, giving plain words sorting out metaphors and similes.
Communication Challenges
1Q) How different is your communication style from the Neurotypicals and how does it affect your daily interactions?
Ans: None of them understand our voice of cry in communication. Honing our food for thought in something like oppression of imprisoned self-talk, homely reading in joining words, phonics, and our mind is moving on intense confusion only. Looking upon these factors, new phonics and new language pedagogy is needed in the process. I mingle with people bringing my understanding to intonation based expressions sans flat tone questions. I usually try to respond in intruding common phrases only liking yes or no comments. My vocabulary is conditioned to regular road to talks and ebb away bright linguistic, long agonising or entertaining stories. I mostly think in my mind as tool rod in fire that moulds into shape based on the mold. My kind of communication is based in Englishman language literacy and bit of hindi/ sanskrit modes in writing. Like a keyboard and monitor I turn out only chalet of letters joined as enticing solitary literature.
2Q) What accommodations would help you thrive?
Ans: Omniscient code of communication is semantics. Figures, images and symbols. Avoid books in words have audio visual roosters.
Relationships
1Q) What do you look for in your relationships? What challenges have you faced in your relationships?
Ans: How to be soothing in tone, how to rise to the occasion on empathy, giving tiny regularity in smiles, converse in person are my punitive challenges.
2Q) How do you cope with these challenges?
Ans: I shun myself away in lonely corner, bolt my lips with big silence, untie my autism with echolalia. Once in Pluto, I hug or openly shake hands.
3Q) What accommodations or changes in the mind-set of people around you would help you thrive?
Ans: They need to usher time in listening to my words with word phrases in questions. Please avoid long ending sentences.
Bullying
1Q) Have you faced bullying in school/college/workplace? Please share a few details
Ans: I have been bullied many times. Kinder garden in school by your own teacher, by helpers there. In street by ninja boys, in home by my grandfather, in college openly physically abusing me bungee jumping my body on the floor, making lewd comments about my jibes on embracing girlish voice not yet broken. Indeed. Only now I am ferrying on adolescence boat in my few dips like body boots in stamina. Unleashing pheromones, kindling self-esteem.
2Q) How do you cope with these challenges?
Ans: I never tell it out. I don’t bother much. I flee and flight in mode.
3Q) What accommodations or changes in the mindset of people around you, would help you thrive?
Ans: Mockery in words injures much. Hence just pick gestures that are omitted by us like signaling or whispering. Enormous cues other than stinging words please.
Masking
1Q) Have you ever had to mask to look neurotypical? Please share your experiences..
Ans: yes, everyday I do in college. I unmask entirely at home in full.
2Q) What challenges have you faced because of masking?
Ans: It unleashes anxiety of picking up lots of curiosity in people about aloof attitude.
3Q) When did you decide to unmask and how was the experience?
Ans: I nonetheless wear mask entering society and undo it in privacy with closed ones.
4Q) What accommodations or changes in the mindset of people around you, would help you thrive?
Ans: Monitoring our presence must be halted with managing and coping for our comfort in food beverages and gadgets.
Executive Functioning Challenges
1Q) What executive functioning challenges ( adaptable thinking, planning, self-monitoring, self control, working memory, time management, and organising) have you faced and how does it affect your life?
Ans: Joy of spending money in our space a dream because of poor maths and initiating voice of demand. Low working memory makes it tough to manage time and things.
2Q) How do you cope with these challenges?
Ans: Binge on my ill nibbling annoying questions only to surpass the answering in return. Logs in numbers I can never handle as numbers in calculation.
3Q) What accommodations would help you thrive?
Ans: Just give instructions so short and cited on good motivation. Please put task in pictures and tools of symbols. A bout of lost time is avoided with way of doing it quick in just few steps.
Social life
Q) What challenges have you faced in your social life?
Ans: Just entered. Too early to share. I stay put in place simply stoned in silence.
Comorbidities
1Q) How do you cope with these challenges?
Ans: No. showtime is OCD and anxiety due to ASD. Joy of reading and writing is lost in LD. Left plausible is lots of minute mood swing shifts.
2Q) What accommodations or changes in the mindset of people around you, would help you thrive?
Ans: It is my load I have to carry not in other’s cart.
Towards a better tomorrow
1Q) Please share your message to parents of autistic children in how they can create a nurturing Environment at home..
Ans: Involve in opening their minds to all the senses in full. Home is to just move in peace. So avoid kilos of moments in therapy. Use water, and sand in play. Air to fly kites and balloons. Play enormous types of wind instruments like organ, trumpet flute, bold mix of drums, mild Jala Taranga. Join in bio human space of moving trees, long streams, and rains.
2Q) Please share your message to therapists on how they can include neurodiversity affirming Practices in their approach..
Ans: Input open thoughts as team play task. Mime tasks in bringing our trust. Don’t test us instead play to see magic. Trust is in non-judgemental affable smiles not matron approach.
3Q) Please share your thoughts on how we can work towards an inclusive and neurodiversity friendly society..
Ans: In the vast, fine space each animal has its own part to play. Till our place is donned extend support. Only time decides its purpose. Hence, lonely planet becomes discovery until it fixates on The Earth, isn’t it?
Thank you so much for this long panoramic view interview.
God bless you dear Vishal, may all your dreams come true!
I would love to carry forward this series as long as possible and share the insightful journeys of Indian speaking autistics. Please reach out if would like to come forward and share your journey and guide parents and therapists. My email - parentingautismindia@gmail.com
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by the guest in this interview are their own independent opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host and owner of the blog. Readers are advised to exercise their own discretion and seek professional advice where necessary.
