THE GREATNESS OF AUTISM  

Azeem's Interview

What age are you?  Between 20 and 30?  31 to 40?  41 to 50?  Over 50?

I am 26 years old. 

 

What age did your parents become concerned that you weren’t developing typically?  What was different about you?

Autism spectrum disorders are prevalent in my family so my parents were familiar with delayed speech and echolalia.  They were surprised at my ability to read at 2 years old (before I could speak.)  I was extremely hyperactive with a limited attention span.   I was sensitive to baths and haircuts (parents or cousins used to chase me around the house to force me to take a bath or get a haircut.)  I hated having my nails cut; my hair combed and was sensitive to tags inside clothing.   One of the most worrying aspects in my development was my inability for math.  I was sent to a psychologist for evaluation.  Even today in Pakistan, people believe that psychologists are only for mad people or extreme cases hence I was discouraged to talk about a possible learning disability by social norms here. 

 

Were you in a special education class or did you receive any services as a child?

I attended normal school all my life and it was a painful, traumatic experience.  Probably due to my lack of initiation, poor eye contact and ASD, I only had two friends.  I am verbal with splinter skills and have a very high functioning right brain.

 

Did you have friends as a child?  Do you have friends now?

I’ve had only 2 friends in the last 26 years.  At the time, they shared a common interest with me but they soon moved on with their own lives. While friends don't stick around, family does. The only people I can call my friends are probably my family. Since I’ve become active in spreading Autism Awareness in Pakistan, I’ve met many people whom I was friendly with but by definition I do not have friends.  I do have business associates, employers and clients but interaction with them is on professional terms.

 

Do you have a good memory?  What type of things do you remember?  What type of things do you forget?

I do not forget unless it’s a name or some kind of number. If I look at a face, I remember it.  Not only that but I can recognize that person if I see him 15 years later and will be able to identify his relatives, i.e. a facial memory. I never forget buildings, routes, smells, pictures, videos or music. I can access all of my memory in an instant and remember entire libraries worth of books that I have read. I have a problem remembering names and up until age 8, I had difficulty remembering my own name.  Now I associate a person with something that sounds like their name, for an example a location.  When I see the person, I think of the rhyming association and then I remember their name.  My visual memory is like a 3D video.  I can move around in my memory, change my own perspective, rewind and fast forward my memory. 

 

Can you explain how your acute hearing affects you? 

I have high powered hearing (tinnitus.)  Even when I’m sleeping, I can hear a phone ringing in the neighbor’s house and hear electric devices turning on or off.  When I think and read my hearing does not work.  The world around me shuts down and I often use this as a tactic when there are too many people or too much noise.

 

Are you good at math?  Can you explain?

I have dyscalculia. Numbers switch place in my mind like 25 becomes 52, 5 becomes S, 6 becomes 9 and so on. I have problems with cost estimation and have difficulty telling time on an analog clock.  I find it hard to sequence things I need to do, i.e. which comes first and second and so on.   In mental arithmetic, the numbers move around in my head, switch places, invert or I simply forget them. The strange thing is that throughout my life I associate numbers with emotions and people.  When I think of a person and how I feel about them, numbers come up mostly instead of feelings. I use this ability to increase my precision while applying numerology, which I learned in a day.

 

Do you have any sensory issues?  What are your biggest sensory challenges and what coping strategies do you have?

I have a long list. I don’t like photographs due to the bright flash of light.  That light lingers in my eyes and makes me lose track of where I am or what I am thinking. I don’t like clothes that are too tight or with tags.  I cannot wear a watch and I’m sensitive to leather.  I don’t like grass or sand to touch my skin as it feels like bugs are crawling all over me.  I don’t like wearing socks because the fabric clings to my skin. I like wearing long sleeve shirts or jackets.  It’s as if the cloth is protecting my skin and it feels reassuring.  I can smell food and taste it through the smell.  If it does not smell OK (like vegetable or strong milk content) I cannot eat it.

 

Do you have any dietary and sleep issues?

Anything with milk or gluten (wheat) in it causes stomach problems.  I wake up a lot due to high powered hearing. I can actually sense if a TV is on in the house or the house next door as I feel the vibration of the picture tube, like an electric whine. When I am about to go to sleep or about to wake up, there is a point where I cannot feel my body yet I am conscious.  I can break out of this state if I want, as my ears are constantly on.  Even while dreaming I can hear people talking outside.

 

Do you have any self stimulatory behavior?  If so, did this lessen as you got older?

I hand flapped when I was anxious or worried.  Now I force myself not to but I still do it sometimes.  Instead of problematic self stimulatory behavior, I used to climb trees, swim underwater, jump from the stairs and have a physical exercise alternative.  If you e-mail me I’d be glad to explain my research on GABA neurotransmitters and how you might reduce self stimulatory behavior.

   

Can you explain why it can be difficult to make eye contact with others?

When someone looks into my eyes, I feel scared as if I have no secrets.  It’s as if that person can see me and hear what I am thinking and it’s an invasion of privacy. Combined with the voice volume, my heartbeat goes up and I often become anxious to end the conversation.   I find eyes scary and the fight or flight part of me activates. For years, I practiced looking in my own eyes in the mirror before I improved my own eye contact.

 

What strategies have helped you in your life? 

As a child, I spent a lot of time on "What’s the difference between these two pictures?" and "Find the hidden character in the big picture". These activities helped me recognize patterns and differences all around me.  At the age of 11, I saw a video of myself in a family wedding movie.  I noticed I was behaving differently to others.  I began working hard on making myself appear more like others.  In early photos I stand out but in recent photos, I appear like everyone else.  My clothes are similar and I sit in a similar posture.  I believe this is the key in a world of outward appearances and discriminations.  We cannot change what is inside us, but we can blend in with others.  I believe this process of camouflaging is what made me professionally successful.  My life started changing when I started to appear outwardly like other people did.  It was then that people started accepting my abilities and talents and listening to me which wasn’t the case when I was in a corner reading a book.

  

What has been your experience with biomedical intervention such as vitamins and chelation?

Since I was 4 years old, my mother has given me peeled almonds each morning.  Almonds are a natural source of Vitamin B12, a chelation agent. I consumed large doses of strepsil lozenges and mints for a laxative effect when needed.  My diet is high in Vitamin C and I consumed large doses of it as a child since it’s also a natural chelation agent.  Throughout childhood I played with play-doh and clay as this absorbs sweat from the palms and in most cases even heavy metals through the skin, creating a new therapy known as chelation clay-bath therapy, but it also removes electrolytes.

 

What have been some of the major obsessions you’ve had?

I was surprised last year when I found out that many Asperger’s people share my fascination of Dinosaurs. For a long time, my obsessions remained with Dinosaurs and Archie comics, where I learned a lot about social interaction. Later, around age 12-13 it was chemistry, then genetics at age 14, nuclear physics at age 15 and computers around age 16 where my learning and reading increased exponentially. After the age of 20, I became involved with ethnographic research studying my own family history, Numerology, comparative religions, Ancient Israeli History (Lost Tribes), Anthropology, Psychology and finally Graphic Design & Multimedia. I was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2006 and now Autism Awareness is one of my obsessions.

Are you currently employed?  What work do you do?

I started graphic design for my father’s printing press at age 12 and in a few years was handling large clients.  My ability to speed read helped me proof entire books and graphic design came naturally to me.  I have trained over 1,500 people over the last 5 years working at Arena Multimedia Pakistan (A division of the Aptech World Corporation). I am also the Brand Manager for Movenpick of Switzerland (a division of Nestle of Switzerland) ice cream in Pakistan where I handle the advertising campaigns and presentations. I was also a Visiting Faculty Member at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Karachi where I taught multimedia to around 250 undergraduate students. I also help with Autism Awareness efforts in Pakistan through the Pakistan Autism Meetup Group and have been interviewed in Pakistan and on the international media.  Aside from the above, I also do freelance work, website design, multimedia CD’s, presentations, video editing & 3D animation for clients inside and outside Pakistan. 

 

Do you have any accomplishments you'd like to mention?  (Such as education, work achievements, personal accomplishments)

This January I represented Pakistan as a speaker at the "2nd South Asian Conference for Autism" in Delhi, India where I joined renowned educators from all over the world such as Dr. Stephen Shore of the Autism Society of America. After the South Asian Conference I was trained in the first TEACCH structured teaching workshop in India.  I was able to join the Moderates, an International Think Tank for Democracy, Tolerance & Interfaith Harmony. I am the highest certified Multimedia/Graphic Design teacher in Pakistan and have been working for the last 14 years with some of the largest brand names in the country. I was nominated for the CNN Heroes award in 2007 for Autism Awareness in Pakistan. I was also a founding member of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Student chapter at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Karachi.  I have won more than 20 awards and certificates during my education and professional activities and have the "Best Internee" certificate of 1999 from IBM Pakistan (Network services department).

 

People from all parts of the globe seek your advice.  Can you explain your natural talent for numerology?

Around 2001, I learned numerology in a day and started applying it. I have a very different understanding of numbers.   I associate numbers with people and emotions.  I clearly see patterns in people’s lives and in my own life. When I started creating numerology reports the word spread and within a few months I was contacted by people from all over the world.  I have done readings for celebrities and even government officials from over 11 countries in the last 7 years.  My accuracy is at 95%. In 2002 I modified the numerology system to help educate children, to reveal their hidden talents and help them perform at their full potential.  I wrote software which automates some of the tedious and repetitive calculations and the rest I do by hand. I have helped parents of special needs children, and also do readings to help children overcome learning problems. What is comforting and scientific about numerology is that it is a precise science, developed by the world’s first mathematician Pythagoras.  The results are consistent and remain the same over periods of time.  I have recently been given the honorary title of Director (South Asian Affairs) for the Strategic Issues Research Institute of the United States where I help support international policy through my ethnographic research.
 

Do you have a good relationship with your parents and siblings?

I live with my parents.  My sister is 9 years older than me and lives with her family. She was always like a second mother and helped keep a check on me (due to my hyperactivity.) I had the same relationship with my sister as I did with my mother since they both took care of me.  My sister is not on the spectrum and we don’t have much in common. I help her out when she needs anything done related to computers. My parents do not understand most of the research and technology that I tend to talk about, but are supportive. Both my grandfathers were men who achieved great things and inspired and trained thousands of people in their fields.  Hearing stories of their achievements at a young age motivated me to become like them.

Are you married?  If not, do you desire to get married and have children?
Social interaction, particularly with the other gender has eluded me. I am sure I will marry.  While I do not like it when children cry (the sound hurts my ears more than if I burn my hand or cut my finger) many children in my family look up to me and that is inspiration enough. I think all Asperger’s people should have children.

 

If you could change one thing about neurotypicals, what would it be?

Lower the volume.  Just because I may not look people in the eye when talking to them does not mean I can’t hear them.  It’s the opposite.  I can hear so well that it over stimulates me and I need to look away to lower my heartbeat. Please don’t shout.  If I can hear the neighbors next door, I can hear the person next to me.

If you could advise parents about one thing, what would it be?

Your child is unique.  Give him the opportunity to experience all those things that other children experience.  Memories and love are the things that overcome obstacles.

 

If you could advise teachers about one thing, what would it be?
Teach every child as if he were your own, the results of which you will see reflected in the world.

Qazi Fazli Azeem is committed to making a positive difference in other people's lives.  If you appreciate the time he's taken to share his experience, please be kind enough to let him know!