本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Salutatorian With Autism Rocks Graduation Speech
SUSANNA BAIRD
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AOL
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(June 18) -- Doctors gave Judith and Dennis Duquette a diagnosis for their son, Eric, but they didn’t offer hope. He was autistic, they explained, and likely would end up in an institution.
Good call, the 18-year-old salutatorian joked at his graduation Tuesday.
"Today I stand before you accepted into every institution of higher learning that I applied to, so I guess, in a way, the experts were right about the institution thing."
Eric, whose challenging senior-year course load included calculus and honors physics, academically bested all but one of his 199 classmates at Smithfield High School in Rhode Island. The salutatorian honor came with a requirement: a speech.
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Eric told AOL News he practiced twice and wasn’t fazed a bit.
"It felt pretty good," he said. "I was pretty confident in what I was saying and how I delivered."
This from a boy who, at 5, had yet to utter a word.
When doctors diagnosed Eric with autism, he was nearly 4. He wasn’t speaking, he wasn’t making eye contact, and he was still wearing diapers.
The diagnosis devastated Judith and Dennis. Judith told AOL News they even looked to other doctors hoping they might make a different call
Devastation gave way to acceptance, followed by action. Judith and Dennis refused to accept their son's poor prognosis.
At the time, interventions that are now standard for children with autism were not offered, so Judith researched treatment options, found toddler programs for Eric and spent a lot of time in the bathroom.
Bathrooms are boring. For Judith and Eric, they offered a perfect classroom environment.
"You need to be distraction-free" when teaching a child with autism, said Judith, who now works at the Groden Center, a program for people with developmental differences. "There was one way in and one way out."
Judith taught Eric to speak using symbols, holding up a card when he was hungry or wanted to go outside. This linguistic stepping stone led to sign language and, as his graduation speech attests, a beautiful command of the spoken language. Two languages, rather. Eric also speaks Spanish.
"The biggest thing about his high school career that's shocking for us is that he’s fluent in Spanish," Judith told AOL News. "The fact that the kid didn’t speak, that he can speak Spanish!"
Academic fluency came easier to Eric than the social half of the high school equation. People with autism have impaired ability to communicate and read social cues. Eric suffered a lot of anxiety, worrying that he would do or say something to offend someone.
During his freshman year, the anxiety ballooned to the extent that Eric dropped out of the regular school-day routine, doing his work at home and meeting one-on-one with the supportive Smithfield High staff during off hours, in quiet locations such as the library.
As he had in the past, Eric surmounted this obstacle, getting by with a little help from a paraprofessional aide and a good friend.
Colby Fugere is a Smithfield High superhero, captain of the hockey team who led the state in regular-season scoring this winter. Fugere is also a really nice kid. He and Eric are buddies; Fugere brings hockey teammates to Eric’s house to play video games. Judith said the relationship has helped Eric establish himself at the school.
"Here’s this really popular kid giving Eric this stamp of approval," she said.
Eric also received the stamp of approval in the form of acceptances to Bryant University, the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, where he will matriculate this fall to study biology.
Eric hopes to become a pharmacist so he can combine his loves of math and science, and use medicine to help people like it did his grandfather, who passed away from cancer.
Fall’s a few months away; for now, Judith wants her son to relax. The media frenzy following his speech may not leave Eric feeling relaxed, but it has left him feeling joyful.
"I think I made a very good reputation for the town," he said. "That makes me happy."
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