Autistic children and young adults: finding resources to help children and families with financial and mental support

JASMine MArie ann Coriz

ISLeta pueblo & Cochiti Pueblo

“Pueblo of Isleta Flag.” Infobase, Facts On File. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=18626&itemid=WE43&iid=244849. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.

“Pueblo of Cochiti Flag.” Infobase, Facts On File. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=18626&itemid=WE43&iid=202267. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.

Coriz, Jasmine, Self Portrait Photo, 12, October 2024, Author's Personal Collection.

Jasmine Coriz.mp4

Chapter 1: Identity

Coriz, Jasmine. ¨Say Hi to Grandpa¨. 11 November 2023.

¨Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community¨

“Sharing One Sjin” is about the Okanagan people and how they connect to Earth and each other. They connect to Earth and eachothers with something or belief they follow called “4 selves of the Okanagan People.”. Jeanette Armstrong in the article explains the “4 selves of the Okanagan People” in great detail and what it means to her. Which are physical self, emotional self, thinking-intellectual self and spiritual self. She said “ I do not speak for the Okanagan people but, my knowledge comes from my Okanagan heritage” which means she doesn't speak on behalf of the people she just speaks what was taught when she was growing up.

Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470.

¨How place names impact the way we see landscape¨

Toastie, B. “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” High Country News: Know the West, 1 May 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact- the-way-we-see-landscape.

B.Toastie talks about the many parts of Native lands and how its changing, especially the names and how the next generation will see it. They talk about the stories and how the stories are tied with landscape and with their ancestors. In the article Tohe said “a lot of places are attached to the story. And those stories are important for us to remember, because they are really telling us something about ourselves and our past. “They talk about how they have changed the names of certain places to people who have passed that are non-native. They just talk about the importance of the past and to never forget what really happened.

Coriz, Jasmine. ¨Light up the Sky¨ 5 November 2024

Coriz, Jasmine. ¨Senior Sunrise¨ 29 August 2024

¨And I went to school¨

Suina, Joseph “And I went to school” memories of a pueblo childhood,”. New Mexico Journal of Reading, Winter 1985, Vol. V, No.2.

Joe Suina talks about how he changed and had to learn a different way that he was taught. He grew uo in Cochiti pueblo and was taught by his grandmother who was traditional and took him everywhere she went. He says how different it was when he went to school and how he had to learn english. He had a big culture shock because he said people were losing tradition and culture. He was sad because he thinks his traditional ways will be gone and he fears that.

Chapter 2 : History

Sage Choice (how autism became autism)

To sum up what happens in this article it talks about how ‘autism’ was discovered and how the term was used in the wrong way. The person who discovered the symptoms of autism and how to tell the difference between autism and schizophrenia, was a German psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler. The concept of autism was coined in 1911. Back before it was discovered the meaning of the word autism people thought the word autism was then radically reformulated from a description of someone who fantasized excessively to one who did not fantasized at all.

Bonnie Evans, How autism became autism, sage choice, Hist Human Sci. 2013 Jul; 26(3): 3-31. Doi: 10.1177/0952695113484320

Medelit. “How to Recognise Autism - MEDELIT UK Home & Online Care.” Medelit United Kingdom, 17 Sept. 2023, www.medelit.com/uk/portfolio-items/how-to-recognise-autism/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.

Chapter 3: Current State of the Issue

NEW MEXICO SENATE BILL 197 a Study of Autism Spectrum Disorders Services, Systems and Financing. 2007.

Exploring the Identification of American Indian children with Autism Spectrum disorder through the story of a parent:

This articvel talks about exploring the identification of American Indian children with autism spectrum disorder throufh the story of a parent. The article says that Native American and Alaskan Natives see autism in different ways. Same people see it as a gift and not a bad thing. It gives you personal stories about how Native Americans view autism as a gift and not a cires. They give you another way of thinking or viewing autism.

New Mexico Senate Bill 197: a study of autism spectrum disorders services,system and financing

This article is about a study of autism spectrum disorders, services, system and financing. The article says all these interesting fact about autism and its effects that come with having a autistic child. But they are not all bad, it tells you or gives you advice to help you in every way possible. It tells you that all autistic children are not the same, the child may excel in many places where a other child may struggle on. All kids can be affected by autism just not one race, religion, and many other things.

“Unraveling the History and Timeline of Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Adinaaba.com, 2024, www.adinaaba.com/post/exploring-the-history-of-autism-spectrum-disorder.

Chapter 4: Global Connection

Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “Autistic Self Advocacy Network.” Autistic Self Advocacy Network, 2024, autisticadvocacy.org/.

ASAN: Autistic Self and Advocacy Network

This is an organization that I found and it helps or spread awareness about autism. The organization has a goal that autism advocacy should be a world in which people with autism would enjoy equal rights and opportunities. They also want to empower the autism community/people across the world to take control of their own lives. Also to organize the autistic community. To ensure that voices are heard in a nation conversation about us.

United Health Care Autism Treatment

This was about an interview with Annie Waldman and Juana Summers and it talked about insurances and why it´s not willing to pay for treatment to help children with autism. It said most insurances aren't covering the treatments and they wanted to know why. Also they talked about the treatments and how it help improve children's behavior and development skills. They also talked about how more and more kids are getting diagnosed with autism being 1 in 36 kids. They said it was a struggle for insurance to pay for treatment nowadays because back 20 years ago every 1 in 150 kids were diagnosed.

CDC. “Treatment and Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), 16 May 2024, www.cdc.gov/autism/treatment/index.html.

“ABA Therapy in Tennessee - Cultivate BHE | Autism Treatment.” Cultivate Behavioral Health & Education, 3 Feb. 2025, cultivatebhe.com/locations/tennessee/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.

CDC. “Treatment and Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), 16 May 2024, www.cdc.gov/autism/treatment/index.html.

Life Journey through autism: navigating the Special Education System

The article talked about the special education and different things yu need to know about your child. There are different techniques for different ages of your child, starting from ages 0-21 years old. But based on different ages more skills they learn to do and to advocate for themselves. This article also talked about how to advocate for your child at school. It tells new parents what they can look forward to sending your child to school and to get the best education for them.

Personal Connection and Problem Overview

My personal connection to my topic is my little brother Mark Anthony Patterson JR. he has autism, epilepsy (Lennox Gastaut Syndrome) a form of 3 different types of seizures that causes his body to drop from his seizures which causes him to fall. It is challenging and a lot of work taking care of him, he keeps us on our toes 24/7. It was hard learning new ways and techniques to get a better understanding of what he is thinking or wants. He has a hard time communicating and a hard time doing things a child that is 11-12 years olds would be doing. My brother has a mental state of a 3 year old and it's hard for him to communicate or do things that we have all learned at that age. He also falls alot and he bruises really easily, and it's hard for other people to understand and people think my family is harming him but they don't know that he falls and has autism that causes him to do that. But my little brother is very smart, especially with distortions. If you take him somewhere one time then he'll remember exactly how to get there, he's also really good with technology. Especially on the phone. But I want to share my story and help people who are struggling with a autistic child or young adult. I want to share different ways of helping someone with a child or even helping the person who is not the legal guardian or a family member.

The biggest issues about my topic is not having enough awareness and enough resources and not having enough education on the topic of autism and how to handle a situation calmly and being respectful to others.

Action Plans

Fall Action Plan:

Spring Action Plan:

Acknowledgment