to camps or not to count that is the question whether it is nobler in the statistics to suffer the slings and arrows of the self-employed and their misfortune or to assert lives against the president's troubles by lying and the depression to law to grow. world leaders called for an investigation after a passenger jet crashes in east ukraine believe it or not the lazy airlines passenger plane crash relatives of the victims are left overwhelmed with grief the netherlands loses one fictional citizen of a national tragedy mostly have an anti government forces are accusing each other of bringing down the plane deny having shot down the plane much of the media turns a blind eye to you gets on oxy.

hello welcome to sophie and co i'm sophie shevardnadze and diagnosed with autism as a baby doctor said he'd never leave a life outside a special institution but it proved him wrong that he's a professor teaching others about the needs of people with autism dr stephen shore is my guest today. the number of children affected by autism is on the rise but the condition remains hard to define while many think it's an illness that people who have a which isn't don't consider themselves sick what does it mean to be so different. people really disadvantaged can they be integrated into society and can society benefit from bury me tell it. dr stephen shore a professor at university outages and research your lecturer diagnosed with

a stay himself welcome it's really great to have you on our show today so let's start from the big thing out what is it is it a new or a logical disorder or is it a psychological thing oh autism is a neurological difference i look at autism as a nonstandard way of perceiving and processing the environment. and doing so it causes differences in communication social interaction sensory issues and. it also results of us having a widely varying skill set which means the things that we're good we can be extremely good and the things that challenge us can be extremely challenging. i just want to go to the origin so where it comes from oxygen is the second most prevalent new or developmental disorder among children today about one hundred

sixty eight children has been identified with a.s.d. in the united states why is it growing so fast why is it always has it always been there but we just didn't know about it before even just a generation ago we see a sharp increase in the prevalence of autism from one and some to no one in sixty eight in the united states and i believe it's a combination of greater awareness and expansion of the definition of autism and also i think we may be doing something to the environment which may be causing the increase. talking about the environment there's a new study found that says that exposure to sterile common agriculture of pesticides during pregnancy increases the risk of autism for children is that something you would agree with i would say that at least it's something that's worth looking at and validating this study. we know the.

it's been causing other health problems so it's possible that that's also causing. contributing to an increase in autism i do know that the environment is dirtier than it used to be. and that's causing an increase in all kinds of disorders but i mean you researched autism do you have one core reason that causes autism that causes disorder or there is no such thing or we still don't know where it comes from well at this point the best minds in research believe autism starts with a genetic predisposition and that can be seen as autistic characteristics tend to run in families when i meet children on the autism spectrum i often see those characteristics in their parents or other siblings speaks to genetics if we get deep into the science of genetics the best at they come to. this point

is that the characteristics of autism are spread over more than one hundred genes and then this genetic predisposition interacts with something in the environment and we have a lot of clues as to what that is that might be as you just mentioned possibly. possibly other things. the problem is is that we don't have a firm grasp on exactly what those triggers are. now talking about real life what is it like to be an autistic individual and at the same time leave a highly functioning social life. does it stress you out is it stressing well it can be. for those of us on the spectrum who are socializing who are out in the community it requires a lot of thought keeping track of the rules of social interaction and it almost seems like most people have these rules built into their brain so it's almost as if

the program is hardwired for those of us on the autism spectrum even though it may not be hard wired the good news is that we can learn these rules of social interaction the challenge can be the number one we have to be taught and then too we have to keep these rules in our minds socially interact so for example sometimes i have to even remind myself to make sure i do have proper eye contact that i properly interpret a non-verbal communication and i believe that most people who are not on the autism spectrum don't think about these things so you're saying the double meanings are really hard to grasp for autistic people is that what you're saying. that's right. double meaning idioms mixed emotions office politics these can all be very challenging for those of us with autism and it just so

happens to be that because this is a challenge for me it's actually become an area of special interest something that i enjoy studying and thinking about learning. however practicing in real time can be a challenge now we all know that school is a coral environment children aren't that tolerant to someone being different children are actually pretty mean how do you deal with it i mean you've been very different from others in high school well our. public school a great school for me it was very difficult because it was different very different from michael. it's so then that there was a lot of bullying and teasing and even to today. we find more people than not on the autism spectrum are bullied in school and i believe the resolution to this problem is education education and developing awareness in

students at the grade school level of people who have differences because with greater awareness with explanations as to why their classmate might behave he'd be hating in a certain way of doing a certain thing. comes the power to be of help and i've seen situations where a child who was diagnosis of autism was explained to a classroom where work has been done in appreciating and understanding differences classmates become helpful to that student. bullying decreases sharply. now tell me something how come some people with autism are able to find personal fulfillment and why like yourself and then others are stuck in a certain point in development and can never integrate into society what does that depend on well a lot of them is an extremely widely varying condition and believe some of

the preconditions for promoting success and fulfillment in people with autism. has to do with recognizing the straights and accepting people for autism is who they are but at the same time realizing that there may be significant challenges that need to be overcome so when i was diagnosed with autism i was pretty sick significantly affected i was known for a boy i had meltdowns and nobody knew what to do in those days when i finally did get a diagnosis my parents accepted me for who i. but at the same time recognized that there were significant challenges to be overcome if i were to lead it fulfilling a productive life now like you've said to the prognosis for your future was pretty dire i mean institutions doctors said you were very ill but you were able to overcome all of that what was the most important thing that helps you overcome it.

the most important thing was that my parents believed. i was an intelligent person and they responded to my interests they promoted my interests so for example the age for it was found in the kitchen taking apart watches with a sharp kitchen knife taking out the motor of the gears the hands of the thing and putting it all back together again in the watch still worked so instead of looking at that as perhaps some sort of strange behavior maybe i should be focusing more social interaction a communication sue my parents provided all kinds of other things to take apart so i think promoting those interests in people with autism is an important road important key to success and i find that those on the autism spectrum who are successful have found a way which to follow their interests and tell tell me something if an autistic

person has someone who gives him extra time extra care and has an understanding and acceptance of who or she does that mean that that person can certainly overcome autism. i think it increases the probability that they can learn better how to work with their artistic characteristics so when we talk about overcoming autism. i wonder if a better word is learning how to work with the characteristics of autism so i still have autism i still have challenges i've learned how to work around these challenges and even to avoid some of those challenges that are particularly difficult still unable to lead a fulfilling and productive life. dr sure we're going to take a short break night right now and blow away come back we're going to continue to talk to dr stephen shore autism expert and we'll talk about problems of integration for ops to stick individuals and the nuances of their mission off the world stage

and. this is the media leave those who we believe. are the seed who should see to the other you are the musical. shoes that no one is asking with again they deserve answers from. reversals of fortune and stalemate the harder the western backed regime and the resistance in the east the more the resistance is able to push back washington

support of a military solution is flagging as well as pushing coast where. the . economic ups and downs in the final months of the deal and the rest. a few will be if we honestly. believe. i want allegations of propaganda also represented there because what you do is essentially to my being the force without looking at the context without looking at the problem. and that's not what i think of the real problem i think the political columns you need to play which distorted the old. crisis.

on the left mean one side. or the other going to be employed most of you know i'm basically sourcing the whole of the reporting. and i think there's a need for the whole companies. we profit very large very attractive and now recognize source of oil for the world into the world's cheapest and best petroleum deposits have been we have to use more energy to get this energy industry grow like a cancer it should be a square. kilometers where. the. this whole area is slated for the remainder of its or drinking water and serve wildlife so everything sort of fishery we can stop. this is the end game when it takes.

to make one barrel. you know you're at the bottom of the money and that's where. we kill ourselves. and we're back with dr steven sure professor and i don't fly university autism researcher diagnosed with a himself welcome back to the show now let me ask you is it important for people with oxygen to be integrated into society or it just feels more comfortable to be in your own world well i think it's important for those of us with autism to be integrated into society society is pretty much integrated with. we're all

integrated with ourselves with each other i should say. as for being in our own world. the way i look at it is the people with autism. are in the world and in some cases are in the world too much and what i mean by that is due to sensory sensitivities we may perceive light vision. touch and other things more strongly than other people and if these sensations are too strong they can cause the person with autism to be overwhelmed and then appear to withdraw. so sensory sensitivity that you mentioned is that a common thing for all who have autism what forms does it take well at this point everybody who i've met on the autism spectrum has sensory issues i do have a friend on the spectrum who says he doesn't have any sensory issues at all but i also wonder why the shades of doubt in this house of the lights are off and. the

way these sensory issues can take place for example many people with autism perceive fluorescent lights like most people perceive a strobe light so i imagine having to go through work all day and go through school the entire day in a room that's lit with a strobe light it's certainly going to have an effect. on your productivity. because they're what do you see and i understand that other people don't. know that's a good question because so often the focus is on what people with autism. don't perceive that most people do but we can also flip that on its head in recognizing that there may be things that people with autism recognise and see in perceive that most other people or most other people and things that i often perceive that other people don't include patterns disruption in those patterns for example that makes

me a very good proof reader or i can even see in a in a document if a picture is even one pixel. to one side or another too far autism also helps me be a good musician and also understanding mechanical devices so this is some of the strengths that autism brings to me tend to be beyond the typical population. what is the hardest thing for you to handle while interacting with others the hardest thing for me to him bill is when there is mixed messages or mixed emotions so that is for example one of a person is saying one thing they're actually feeling something girls. but you said you are studying that phenomenon why is it so difficult for an artistic person to understand what the other person is feeling did you come up with an answer. i

believe that the difficulty stems from a difficulty or challenge in reading nonverbal communication research suggests that non-verbal communication makes up to eighty percent and some researchers believe even up to ninety three percent of total interaction so that means those of us on the spectrum are only getting maybe seven percent or twenty percent of the total interaction package and that seven or twenty percent is just words so we're highly dependent or over dependent on the written or spoken word. when we have difficulty perceiving what is known as pragmatic so what is happening between the lines of behind those words and that is why one we tend to be very literal you know interpretation of language because that's all we have without the backdrop of the non-verbal now you also said that music is that our anger stude by people with

boxes and then words do we know why i believe. whatever scrambles the speech centers of the brain leave the musical once intact. one of the one of the things. one of my activities includes giving music lessons to children on the autism spectrum and i find that those individuals i work with they're all over the spectrum some of herbal some are hyper verbal some of non-verbal in their skills also ranges over the entire spectrum where some of them could be professional musicians if they so choose and others work harder at it but they still enjoy it and i believe whatever the neurological reason is allows people who stutter to not start or when they saying is likely the same reason music can speak to

many people. autism where is verbal interaction may daughter may be difficult but since you're saying that it's really hard for you to read between the lines how did you figure out what to do in your personal life because you went to school he went to college i mean you've had several dating experiences before you got married so how did that happen for you did you make friends right away and how were you dating women if it was so hard for you to understand the unspoken they on sat or part of it is studying on verbal communication and what it is once i realized that non-verbal communication was a you might say a channel of interaction that caused me to become extremely interested in it and i would spend hours reading books on body language social interaction dating relationships and so on so i did my own intensive study on. another. and know another thing that helps me is just being very vocal about

things i don't understand so for example perhaps with my wife it means that we have to talk about things more than perhaps the average couple when there isn't you might say magical mind reading that couples are supposed to have we just realize that it's either not there or it's going to be less than a typical couple so we talk about things perhaps more than others and in that way perhaps having autism even helps a relationship because we have to talk about issues in the order to understand them tell me something is there such thing as intuition for artists do you have it. yes i do people with autism do have intuition i know many people with autism who are in some ways very good at reading certain aspects of people i believe i'm pretty good at touching certain things. about people when i. act with them and it

may be that we look at things differently than the typical population so in that way it can be helpful so you said you studied body language like people who study math or physics and you've been married for twenty years now what about you know why was she familiar with your condition how did she approach the whole thing when you guys started dating and living together well that's a very interesting question when we started dating and my wife like. the other women i've dated never was able to perceive the nonverbal cues that indicated a woman was interested in me so they would have to basically just tell me. the same thing with my wife we had met as music students and we started by reviewing each other's homework which then morphed into words. doing things socially and then one day at a beach she suddenly gave me a hug and

a kiss and held my hand and at that point i had a bit of a social story down having been through some experiences of just not getting it and at that point i created a bit of a social story which went something like this if a woman hugs who kisses you and holds and all about the same time they're probably means they want to be a girl. kerry interrupt the regular program groups the u.s. president is now giving a statement on the crash of a malaysian passenger plane on ukrainian territory let's take a listen. our thoughts and prayers are with his family for this terrible loss. yesterday i spoke with the leaders of ukraine malaysia and the netherlands and i told them that our thoughts and prayers are with all the families and that the

american people stand with them during this difficult time later today i'll be speaking with prime minister abbott of australia. which also suffered a terrible loss. by far the country that lost the most people on board the plane was the netherlands. from the days of our founding the dutch have been close friends and stalwart allies the united states of america and today i want the dutch people to know that we stand with you shoulder to shoulder in our grief and in our absolute determination to get to the bottom of what happened. here's what we know so far evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface to air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by russian backed separatists inside of ukraine we also know that this is not the first time a plane has been shot down in eastern ukraine over the last several weeks russian backed separatists have shot down a training transport plane and a helicopter and they claimed responsibility for shooting down

a ukrainian fighter jet. moreover we know that these separatists have received a steady flow of support from russia this includes arms and training. that includes heavy weapons and it includes anti-aircraft weapons. here's what must happen now. this was a global tragedy. an asian airliner was destroyed in european skies filled with citizens from many countries so there has to be a credible international investigation into what happened the un security council has endorsed this investigation and we will hold all its members including russia to their word. in order to facilitate that investigation russia pro russian separatists and ukraine must adhere to an immediate cease fire. evidence must not be tampered with. investigators need to access the crash site and the solemn task

of returning those who were lost on board the plane to their loved ones needs to go forward immediately. and the united states stands ready to provide any assistance that is necessary we've already offered the support of the f.b.i. and the national transportation safety board which has experience in working with international partners on these types of investigations. they are on their way personnel from the f.b.i. and the national transportation safety board in the coming hours and days all continue to be in close contact with leaders from around the world as we respond to this catastrophe our media focus will be on recovering those who were lost investigating exactly what happened and putting forward the facts. i want to point out there will likely be misinformation as well i think it's very important for folks to sift through what is factually based and what is

simply speculation no one can deny the truth that is revealed in the awful images that we all have seen and the eyes of the world are on eastern ukraine. and we are going to make sure that the truth is out. more broadly. i think it's important for us to recognize that this out rageous event underscores that it is time for peace and security to be restored in ukraine. for months we've supported a pathway to peace and the ukrainian government has reached out to all ukrainians put forward a peace plan and lived up to a cease fire despite repeated violations by the separatists. violations that took the lives of ukrainian soldiers and personnel. more over time and again russia has refused to take the concrete steps necessary to deescalate the situation i spoke to president putin yesterday in the wake of additional sanctions that we have imposed

he said he wasn't happy with them and i told him that we have been very clear from the outset that we want russia to take the path that would result in peace in ukraine but so far at least russia has failed to take that path instead it has continued to violate ukrainian sovereignty and to support violent separatists it is also failed to use its influence to press the separatists to abide by a cease fire that's why together with our allies we've imposed growing costs on russia so now's i think a somber and appropriate time for all of us to step back and take a hard look at what has happened violence and conflict inevitably lead to unforseen consequences. russia the separatists and ukraine all have the capacity to put an end to the fighting meanwhile the united states is going to continue to lead efforts within the world community to

deescalate the situation to stand up for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine and to support the people of ukraine as they courageously work to strengthen their democracy and make their own decisions about how they should move forward. before i take just a couple of questions let me remark on one other issue of this morning i spoke with prime minister netanyahu of israel about the situation in gaza we discussed israel's military operation in gaza including its efforts to stop the threat of terrorist infiltration through tunnels into israel. i reaffirmed my strong support for israel's right to defend itself. no nation should accept rockets being fired into its borders or terrorists tunneling into its territory in fact while i was having a conversation with prime minister netanyahu sirens went off in tel aviv. i also made clear that the united states and our friends and allies are deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life.

and that's why we've indicated although we support military efforts by the israelis to make sure that rockets are not being fired into their territory. we also have said that our understanding is the current military ground operations are designed to deal with the tunnels and we are hopeful that israel will continue to. approach this process in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and that all of us are working hard to return to the cease fire that was reached in november of two thousand and twelve secretary kerry is working to support egypt's initiative to pursue that outcome i told prime minister netanyahu that john is prepared to travel the region following additional consultations. let me close by making one additional comment.