Celebrating Autism Acceptance Month! 🎉

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Season 2: Episode 101 Description

Ten News Gets Extra: 🎉 It's time to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month! Host Bethany Van Delft is here to break down what Autism is and share 10 facts to know about it! 🎤 Ten News Head Writer sits down with Jonathan Cormur of the Dorktales Storytime.✔️ Fun Fact Check: This famous entrepreneur is on the Autism Spectrum. And, test your presidential knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅

Sources

Autism Acceptance Month | Autism Society

10 Facts about Autism - World Autism Awareness Week 2018 (isabelhealthcare.com)

The Autism Experience | Autism Society

Facts About Autism You Need To Know | Otsimo

Autism Statistics and Facts | Autism Speaks

Autism no puzzle, nothing wrong with us - Altogether Autism

AUTISM ACCEPTANCE MONTH -April 2022 - National Today

Elon Musk and Autism I Psych Central

First Autistic Presidential Appointee : The Two-Way : NPR

Links

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TRANSCRIPT:

Bethany Van Delft  0:01  

It's time to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month. But, do you know what autism is? Well, today we're gonna break it down for you and sit down with the star of one of our favorite podcasts. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Saturday, April 16th. And this is no ordinary episode of the Ten News. This is the Ten News Gets Extra.

Various Voices  0:23  

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Bethany Van Delft  0:31  

Some of you may want to know what exactly is autism. Let's dive deep into it with 10 important facts you should know. Autism is a different way of thinking also known as neurodivergent. Think of it like having an iOS operating system versus an Android system. Both are great, just different. Yeah. Autism is a spectrum disorder because each person experiences it differently. A spectrum is like a rainbow of different experiences. Autism is something you're born with and you don't grow out of it. And some people aren't even diagnosed until their grownups. Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls. But that might be because girls are experiencing different symptoms than boys. There isn't one cause of autism, but it's often linked to genetics. people on the autism spectrum can behave differently in their communication, family relationships and friendships, and in social settings. About 40% of people with autism are nonverbal, which means they don't speak. Some people with autism do things in a repetitive way, they might make the same sound again and again or repeat their movements. It's called stimming. And it can be comforting to their senses. Hey, autistic people prefer symbols like a rainbow infinity sign instead of the puzzle piece symbol. That's because people with autism don't want to be seen as an unsolvable puzzle. The rainbow infinity sign is a positive way to show the spectrum of experiences for neurodiverse people. People are born with autism spectrum disorder all over the world. April is autism acceptance month, and it's all about celebrating differences, learning more, and empowering individuals with autism who never drew up to speed. The 10 News head writer Ryan Willard is sitting down with Jonathan korma, a gentleman who has autism and is the star of one of our favorite podcasts, Dork Tales Storytime podcast,

Ryan Willard  2:43  

What's up, Ten'ers? We've got a special guest that I'm ridiculously excited to talk to. So first off, who are you? Where are you from? And what do you do?

Jonathan Cormur  2:51  

Well, hey there, Ryan. Thanks for having me. Well, my real name is Jonathan Murphy. But my screen actors guild union name is Jonathan Cormur. I am an actor. Specifically, voice acting though. I have done acting in the other fields like theatre and film and stuff. And I live in California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ryan Willard  3:23  

Jonathan, what do you do better than anyone else?

Jonathan Cormur  3:26  

Hmm, well, I wouldn't say I do anything better. But what I do well, is that I'm very very good at diving into these like different characters and doing different voices and learning and memorizing different lines and scripts and stuff. And really kind of getting into the story and the characters and learning not only my parts but other people's parts too, because I'm just so invested in the story.

Ryan Willard  4:04  

What would you say the coolest part about being autistic is?

Jonathan Cormur  4:07  

Well, I think the coolest part of being autistic is that well, I'm very very very focused on what I do. I have hyperfocus, I have many many interests. And I really really get into these interests and learn and learn everything there is to know about them hence why I can you know, do a lot of characters and learn everything about not only the characters I'm playing but the characters that you or everyone else in the story is doing. And I'm pretty good at remembering my lines. I have a really good memory of like, lines when I kind of see the words written and I'm I repeat them kind of over and over again, I can get it down and get all the whole story down. And I sort of, I'm really good at observing people and their mannerisms and mimicking, I'm a good mimicker of, of people and their, their physical and vocal mannerisms, it just kind of comes to me,

Ryan Willard  5:21  

What are the most challenging parts of being autistic?

Jonathan Cormur  5:24  

I can't read social cues very well. So it's, it's hard for me to kind of, you know, look at people and sort of determining what they're feeling or what they're thinking. And, you know, sometimes I can like misread them and what they're saying or what they're actually feeling. And it can be tough socially. I do have some social anxiety got a lot of social anxiety there. It's hard for me to kind of remember like names of things that I just kind of hear offhand, I have to like, kind of put a face or something to it. Other challenges. Let's see. Oh, and another challenge is sensory issues. I have. I have a problem with loud noises. And so I can't really go into like big crowded, small areas with a big crowd of people and so much noise that it can become very, very overwhelming and doesn't really help my anxiety very, very much.

Ryan Willard  6:30  

Jonathan, can you tell us something you want more people to know about autism?

Jonathan Cormur  6:34  

Mmm, hmm. That's a good question. What? What do I want more people to know about autism? Well, I think what people can sort of learn about autism is that we're all different. We're all just as unique and diverse as well. Everyone else is. I mean, there's an old saying that if you've met one person on the spectrum, you've just met one person on the spectrum, we're all very different. We all have different kinds of, of challenges and different strengths and weaknesses. And, you know, we require like specific help on our, on our specific things, and we all have specific things we are good at. And you know, it's just, it's more about the individual and who they are.

Ryan Willard  7:30  

So, what advice would you give a kid who just learned that they were autistic,

Jonathan Cormur  7:34  

Um, I would say, to the kid, congratulations, you just learned something new about yourself. You know, there was actually I was doing a presentation for high school not too long ago. And one of the teens there told me that they just found out that they're on the spectrum. And I said, Oh, great. How do you feel about that? And he said, well, not too great. I'm kind of worried about it. And I said to him, Oh, well, Has anything changed in your life? And he said, No, not really. Well, there you go. It's just you know, it's one extra thing. You learn about yourself. There's nothing wrong with being on the spectrum. It doesn't really change who you are. It's just a part of who you are. You don't stop learning about yourself. I'm always changing. I'm in my 30's and you know, I'm always learning new things about myself and growing. You never stop learning.

Ryan Willard  8:51  

Thank you so much for stopping by the Ten News, Jonathan, we really appreciate your insight and your awesome work on Dork Tales.

Jonathan Cormur  8:58  

Yeah, thanks. It was really, really nice. Nice talking to you. And thank you so much for having me on, Ryan.

Bethany Van Delft  9:05  

Thank you so much, Jonathan, for the wonderful insight into your world. You can catch them on Dork Tales Storytime Podcast available on all podcast platforms. There are so many successful scientists, artists, comedians, musicians, and writers who are on the autism spectrum. But did you know that Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors is on the autism spectrum? He made the announcement on the comedy show Saturday Night Live. Pretty cool, huh? His announcement shone a light on all that autistic individuals can and do accomplish. Up next. It's time for...

Various Voices  9:45  

What, what, what's the big idea? 

Bethany Van Delft  9:55  

Trivia on the Ten. 22-year-old Ari Ne'eman was one of the youngest ever presidential appointees. He was nominated to serve on the National Council on Disability. Can you guess which President appointed him? Is it a) President Obama b) President Trump or c) President Biden? Did you guess it? The answer is A. Way back in 2010, President Obama appointed Ari, and he's been an important leader in the neurodiversity movement ever since. He talks about the status of people with autism saying, we need to stop making autism advocacy, about trying to create a world where there aren't any autistic people and start building one in which autistic people have the rights and support they deserve. Bravo Free for saying what needs to be said. That's all we have time for today. But if you want to learn more, check out the show notes to listen to last year's episode with our interview with the founder of the nonprofit autism career pathways. Before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is learning more about autism and includes Tracy Crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard Logan Deyoung, and Tessa Flannery. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle. And our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to the Ten News. Happy Autism Awareness Month and do not forget to check out the show notes to learn more!