Bitsika, Vicki and Christopher Sharpley. "The Association between Social Responsivity and Depression in High-Functioning Boys with an Autism Spectrum Disorder." Journal of Developmental & Physical Disabilities, vol. 28, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 317-331. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10882-015-9470-0.

Authors Vicki Bitsika and Christopher Sharpley are psychologists both known for previous works concerning the studies of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Bitsika is a professor on Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as the Director for the Center of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Sharpley's research is centered on depression concerning autism and how it manifests. This article is focused on depression in male individuals with high-functioning autism (HFA) concerning social abilities. Said depression stemmed from HFA individuals being aware they lack self-confidence in social situations, and ruled a connection between low-social impairment and high cognitive ability are associated to higher depression rates. Often, this depression is not always present in HFA individuals featured in media, if they are present to begin with. I feel this article is best used to understand another dimension to individuals of autism and also HFA, something which most fictional characters of these characters are not written or portrayed to have. In fact, many characters with symptoms of ASD or HFA do not seem to mind being alone, something which contrasts to the studies findings implying a larger percentage are not alright with lacking in social contact.

Burrows, Catherine, et al. "Supporting the Spectrum Hypothesis: Self-Reported Temperament in Children and Adolescents with High Functioning Autism." Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, vol. 46, no. 4, Apr. 2016, pp. 1184-1195. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2653-9.

In this study done by Catherine Burrows and associates, there has been found a difference in temperament from normally functioning peers in comparison to high functioning autism (HFA) peers, a difference I believe may be key to better understanding HFA individuals and where misconceptions arise from. This difference has been found to be quantitative or quantity, rather than qualitative or quality. While it was observed HFA and normal individuals were not drastically different in group difference, they did diverge in verbal IQ, and a notably larger percentage of the HFA group were male compared to female, correlating with many fictional characters with autistic characteristics being male. Temperament and behavior, along with cognitive and stunted social development, are some of the major factors of autism. The finding found evidence supporting the spectrum hypothesis, utilizing measures to better understand the quirks behind HFA. The reports basic structure highlights autism and even HFA is more nuanced compared to what is presented in media.

libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=98372672&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Draaisma, Douwe. "Generic Images of Autism." Psychologist, vol. 27, no. 10, Oct. 2014, pp. 768-769.

This article published in the Psychologist, while short, still brings up the bigger question and idea of how we see and perceive autism through the stereotypes we are exposed to through literature and media. While the stereotypes cannot be dispelled, being aware that we may not have the full comprehension of autism is a step in the right direction. In fact, many people with autism contest and challenge the stereotypes placed on through different ways, whether with social media or literature. Still, one finds the perception of autism today shaped not by psychologists or psychiatrists, but by fiction. An unfortunate aspect of this is many autistic characters fall victim of savant syndrome or constrained to certain narratives, confusing fiction from non-fiction and allowing the idea an autistic character could never be a much more complex character.

In life, we find ourselves at one point or the other saying things to ourselves when things do not go as we planned to reassure us. Yet while we do so, do we start subconsciously believing other factors other than your own efforts are the cause of your failures, and in the process distort the facts. For Isaac Lidsky, this very trail of thought shaped the reality he believed in, until a genetic disorder left him blinded and made him begin to rethink how he viewed his reality. The conclusion he came up with was seeing is not believing, and the reality we see is created by our efforts, structured to best suit this particular kind of speech to give us the solution needed.

His impressive track record utilizes ethos to establish himself as credible, and I find it to be used also as a way to connect to his topic. A former child actor, a graduate of Harvard in mathematics and computer science, and later in law from the same school, he previously served as a law clerk for two different Supreme Court justices. However, he also is the first and only individual to serve as a law clerk being blind. This surprise, as he explains, is from the stigma and prejudices concerning ‘disabilities’, although his literal blindness is only part of his argument. His ethos thus becomes a major part of his topic by establishing himself as being able to succeed in spite of his blindness, and how losing his literal vision was what allowed him to find figurative vision.

Pathos is found, although rather than appeal to emotion outright, it touches on feelings the audience have certainly felt before in their lives. Fear becomes a factor of emotions that impacts the reality we perceive, as he explains.  Emotions are one of the components to how the mind constructs what we see. They make up the pathos, appealing to the emotions and fear people have certainly felt once in their lives, whether in school or in jobs. However, more critically, excessive fear changes how we view reality and causes a distortion that hinders the reality around us as more difficult or impossible than it is supposed to be. His fear when he lost his eyesight almost made him give in, had he not learned to see the world with vision, not with sight.

Vision is the metaphoric view of the world that is different from our literal sight.We think of reality as the world we reside in, but for Lidsky, reality is perceived differently by ever individual. And by believing in the reality we see, often one accepts that reality as the universal truth of the matter. This problem limits human beings by allowing us to excuse all factors except any caused by ourselves and preventing growth as an individual by falling into a sense of complacency. The backwards swimming fish at the beginning are a metaphor of this false perception of reality we create, and the dangers it creates, but Lidsky however tells one can learn to see and avoid these dangers by changing the reality we see to be influenced by the actions one takes.

Ultimately, this TED Talk was solutions based argument, meant to invoke the audience to be faced with a problem impacting their lives and then know what needs to be done in order to resolve it. This is made the most clear near the end, where he begins to connect back to the ‘backwards swimming fish’ he established in his hook to the reality humans perceive and believe in. For example, I often find myself blaming the lack of time in the day to do the things I wanted over what I needed to have done, when it was more accurately because I did not focus on my task at hand to my fullest. My antagonist is time and I a bystander. However, Lidsky clearly is addressing this very way of thinking, and how we just do not do anything about our situation but feel pity if left so. We are then given the solution to own up to what is our faults and work to improve, as awareness is one step toward solving the problem.

One may argue the speech was not as effective as it could have been in set-up at the beginning, but I find the strength of the argument is the idea we are in more control of the circumstances we live in than we believe ourselves to be. Despite backgrounds of any viewer being different from his own, the important element that allowed Lidsky to find vision was conquering the fear of the unknown after going blind, and ultimately, I find that is the universal idea any person will often face in life. Even though the construction of the argument was slow, I find the pacing better allowed the explanation of why the dangers of self-excuses are to what we perceive, allowing bias and no accountability for a person's actions.

The excuses we make to ourselves in life facing roadblocks or problems should not allow one to be complacent and stagnant. A reality people should be creating for themselves is one where they actively solve their problems with their own abilities, regardless of the unknown. The following is the message Lidsky hopes to convey to his audience, from his own experience after losing his sight almost making him give into a reality where he would be without independence, and ultimately deciding to move forward and not let his disability define his reality. Being able to see with vision and not with just our sight needs to be done more often, lest we fall into not understanding the nuances around us. The reality we create is based on how we believe it, so now one must shape what we see how we wish for it to be, and then understand how to reach that vision.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/24/starting-over-dept-of-social-studies-malcolm-gladwell

Gladwell, Malcolm "Starting Over" The New Yorker , 2015

Malcolm Gladwell explores the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina of 2006 on the residents of the neighborhood in New Orleans, where many poor African Americans resided it in, and how the natural disaster may of had more beneficial effects than expected on the population. Gladwell has previously done work on subjects involving people and focus on individuals that impacted others. A common statistic finds many Africans do not move homes unless there is a cause of concern, such as wiring or change in rent, and not for reasons including better schooling or neighborhoods. As a result, usually they will stay in a poor neighborhood and impact their prospects for their children, at about 48 percent. Hurricane Katrina however, forced many these families to move elsewhere, such as Houston, were their prospects improved substantially. While the article takes a positive spin on the effects of Katrina, there is a large usage of pathos and lesser focus on the logos and the opposite argument that lives have not improved is not brought up or with any evidence backing it. Still, an argument of the crisis involving inter-generational mobility being a local problem is not without merits, that the neighborhood one grows up in can have more impact than other factors.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/12/the-ex-con-scholars-of-berkeley
MacFarquhar, Larissa "Building a Prison-to-School Pipeline" The New Yorker, 2016.

MacFarquhar discusses in the anecdotes of various ex-inmates now attending higher education following release a more optimistic side to the prospects of inmates, provided they are willing to work toward it. It also discusses the Underground Scholars, a group consisting of former incarcerated students currently in higher education, made to act as support. The stories of the former incarcerated share themes of struggles in their lives that lead them to prison sentences, and ultimately, through the draw of literature and education, chose to stay out of it and become something more substantial. As Danny Murillo and Steven Czifra, two of such inmates realized, it is indeed possible for someone with a criminal record to still be able to succeed in education, as long as they knew what they needed to do. The article also brings up a criticism of the system and the focus to challenge the system instead of accepting it. It appears MacFarquhar's attempt by writing this article is despite the negativity that stems involving current social problems, there is something some good within society as well, considering her background including writing concerning current US politics. Its publication within The New Yorker adds to the value as a different side to an issue that rarely is brought up in conventional reporting or medium.

Hi this is a test to make sure this blog is working. TEST TEST TEST.

That's actually something I painted for my freshman English 1A class. It was for a presentation relating the topic I wrote about concerning technology and art.