Issue link: http://baypath.uberflip.com/i/1037711
16 Bay Pathway Spring 2018 When Assistant Professor Sarah Hernandez '14 G'15 of the occupational therapy department decided to run for the school board in her local town, the process of canvassing in the community and meeting strangers was absolutely terrifying. "At first, I had to watch how people did it. And, slowly, I learned to pick up certain cues and how to handle myself in different situations. People were very patient with me. It was a big step when I knocked on that first door." Sarah's success is all the more remarkable because she is neurodiverse: she is on the autism spectrum. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a development condition defined by social and communication difficulties and repetitive, inflexible patterns of behavior. When you first meet Sarah, a mother of three with a friendly and welcoming smile, she appears to be the opposite of society's profile of being autistic. But appearances can be deceiving. Sarah, along with many other young girls and women, has mastered what is known as "social camouflaging," or hiding in plain sight. In many ways, this coping technique has led to women of all ages to be misdiagnosed, or in some cases, not diagnosed with autism at all. And that gets to the heart of Sarah's story. "I was diagnosed in my thirties, and that is not unusual for women. I knew that I was different somehow, but I couldn't put my finger on it. There were times that I just had to shut down and not communicate. I was lucky to learn it was a form of autism because most women fly under the radar and never find out. They live in a world of inner turmoil. It's only recently that researchers It's difficult for many people to approach a stranger's house and knock on their door. It's quite another matter if you are knocking on doors and running for public office. Within minutes, you need to introduce yourself and connect with the person on the other side of the threshold. We call it being face-to-face—a fundamental form of human communication. STANDING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER f a c u l t y P r o f i l e