DESPITE HER AUTISM, SHANNON IS
AN ADVOCATE FOR DISABLED
By CATHY LIPSETT
Shannon Barnes, 23, stood recently before a group of social workers
during a session of a statewide conference. Speaking publicly
is a bold feat for most people, but is even more remarkable for
Shannon.
Shannon has been diagnosed with autism; yet she doesn’t
let her disability deter her fro
m
using her many talents and gifts to make the world a better place.
She often speaks through a computer-synthesized voice from her
laptop, typing out her words for the computer to bring to life.
She is an advocate for supported employment for persons who have
disabilities, and is, herself, a testimonial to a person with
a handicap filling a valuable job.
Accompanied by Cobb Community Services Board Director of Developmental
Disabilities Nancy Brooks-Lane, Shannon has spoken to groups in
Marietta and in Washington, D.C.
Talented in science, Shannon has worked at a veterinary clinic,
doing the clinical work to help diagnose an animal’s ailment.
She is a graduate of Campbell High School and would like one day
to go to college. She is also talented in art and music and enjoys
watching sports and collecting and making model cars. She ran
track in high school and has been outstanding in sports at the
Special Olympics. She has sung before groups and at Hemingway’s
on the Marietta Square.
All through school Shannon says she was given different labels
and was unofficially diagnosed with Autism in sixth grade, but
not officially until she was almost grown. Shannon talks openly
about how Autism affects her and her life. “I am middle
to upper middle function level moderate autistic. I am considered
to have borderline to mild retardation as well and I have muscular
dystrophy and a few orthopedic differences too. I think it’s
cool. I am unique and I love to spread the word that disabled
does not mean stupid. I have a sticker on the door in my room
that says that,” Shannon wrote recently in an e-mail describing
her disabilities.
Shannon’s autism affects her sensory perception. She explains,
“my senses are all super sensitive and they are cross wired.
My hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell are all very high and
also cross wired, meaning I feel a lot of sounds; I taste what
I smell; I also have very sensitive eyes. Most of the time people
see me wearing dark wrap-around sunglasses because sunlight, reflective
light, car headlights, and even some store lighting can cause
excruciating pain.”
She realizes the benefits to her sensitiveness also. “I
can use my extra sensitive sensory organs and my input to find
and fix problems with machines, for building, and also music.
I can feel music and hear it. It’s awesome.”
As part of the autistic process, Shannon says she “learns
information different then you would. Most of us are very visual,
and we are also literal, straight forward thinkers, and learners.
How we process language or other information, as well as various
stimulations, is different from normal.”
Speaking to a group of social workers recently, Shannon, speaking
through her voice synthesizer, told the group: “I am autistic
and proud to be because I am unique and another part of diversity.
I think research needs to be done on autism and other developmental
disabilities. But not to cure or fix, but to learn about and understand
us. We are not broken or ill, or imperfect. We really are no different
then another race, culture or religion. We don’t need fixing
or curing because there is noting wrong with us. We are just a
different group of people. A group of people that needs to be
embraced, included and accepted as a full part of the great diversity
and uniqueness of mankind.”
