08-29-2005, 12:16 PM
It is difficult to imagine Mary-Minn Sirag without words.
At 51, she talks incessantly, in a rich, low, singsong voice. Her command of the language is impressive, her vocabulary prodigious - a byproduct, perhaps, of the shelves and stacks of books lining the walls of almost every room of her River Road-area house.
But at 1, 2, even 3 years old, she essentially was silent. Borderline catatonic as an infant, she didn't like to be held or touched. All of her milestones came late. She didn't sit up until she was 18 months old, didn't walk until after 2. As a toddler she would throw epic tantrums, hurling objects across the room. She had peculiar obsessions, such as the contents of women's handbags, and refused to use stairs.
Oddly, although she didn't talk, she flawlessly sang nursery rhymes.
Her doctors didn't know what autism looked like.
"Most of them said I was severely retarded and I wouldn't be toilet trained and I would be a real liability for my parents," Sirag said.
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Sirag proved them wrong. Through a combination of early intervention by her grandmother, intense determination, natural intelligence and inherent sociability, Sirag gained the upper hand in her struggle with a formidable developmental disability that impairs communication, social interaction and behavior.
She did well in school, made friends, got through college, supported herself. Married 14 years now to theoretical physicist Saul-Paul Sirag, she has a full and joyous life.
She also has emerged as a leading advocate and role model for Lane County's sizable autism community. Since 2001 she has been president of KindTree Productions Inc., a Eugene support organization that celebrates autistic adults and children through art, education and recreation. Earlier this spring, Sirag was the recipient of the Arc of Oregon's Sarolta Nagy Award, an annual award given to a developmentally disabled person who has made an outstanding contribution to the quality of life for other Oregonians with developmental disabilities. Before that, she nabbed the Arc of Lane County's Self-Determination Award.
That's not to say life has been, or ever will be, easy for Mary-Minn Sirag. Chronically underemployed most of her life, she has been fired from more than a dozen jobs. She can't remember faces or voices, and has an abysmal sense of direction. She seldom maintains eye contact, and she struggles to master the give-and-take of normal social interaction. She often rocks back and forth gently during conversation. Like many autistic people, she suffers from stomach problems - in her case, occasionally debilitating Crohn's disease.
Sirag's singular blend of compassion, energy, humor, forthrightness and vulnerability makes her an inspiration to others, say those who know her well.
Here's what TR Kelley, a Swisshome musician who is autistic, wrote about Sirag in one of more than a dozen nomination letters for the Arc award: "Mary-Minn Sirag is someone I instantly felt a powerful kinship with - intelligent, literate, insightful and very unapologetically autistic. Her candor and willingness to share and speculate and advocate serve as a beacon for me as I continue to accept and come to terms with my own lifetime of undiagnosed autism."
Nan Lester, founder of the Eugene-based Asperger Advocacy Coalition, hired Sirag two years ago to be a mentor
Rest of long article -
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/0...cityregion
At 51, she talks incessantly, in a rich, low, singsong voice. Her command of the language is impressive, her vocabulary prodigious - a byproduct, perhaps, of the shelves and stacks of books lining the walls of almost every room of her River Road-area house.
But at 1, 2, even 3 years old, she essentially was silent. Borderline catatonic as an infant, she didn't like to be held or touched. All of her milestones came late. She didn't sit up until she was 18 months old, didn't walk until after 2. As a toddler she would throw epic tantrums, hurling objects across the room. She had peculiar obsessions, such as the contents of women's handbags, and refused to use stairs.
Oddly, although she didn't talk, she flawlessly sang nursery rhymes.
Her doctors didn't know what autism looked like.
"Most of them said I was severely retarded and I wouldn't be toilet trained and I would be a real liability for my parents," Sirag said.
advertisement
Sirag proved them wrong. Through a combination of early intervention by her grandmother, intense determination, natural intelligence and inherent sociability, Sirag gained the upper hand in her struggle with a formidable developmental disability that impairs communication, social interaction and behavior.
She did well in school, made friends, got through college, supported herself. Married 14 years now to theoretical physicist Saul-Paul Sirag, she has a full and joyous life.
She also has emerged as a leading advocate and role model for Lane County's sizable autism community. Since 2001 she has been president of KindTree Productions Inc., a Eugene support organization that celebrates autistic adults and children through art, education and recreation. Earlier this spring, Sirag was the recipient of the Arc of Oregon's Sarolta Nagy Award, an annual award given to a developmentally disabled person who has made an outstanding contribution to the quality of life for other Oregonians with developmental disabilities. Before that, she nabbed the Arc of Lane County's Self-Determination Award.
That's not to say life has been, or ever will be, easy for Mary-Minn Sirag. Chronically underemployed most of her life, she has been fired from more than a dozen jobs. She can't remember faces or voices, and has an abysmal sense of direction. She seldom maintains eye contact, and she struggles to master the give-and-take of normal social interaction. She often rocks back and forth gently during conversation. Like many autistic people, she suffers from stomach problems - in her case, occasionally debilitating Crohn's disease.
Sirag's singular blend of compassion, energy, humor, forthrightness and vulnerability makes her an inspiration to others, say those who know her well.
Here's what TR Kelley, a Swisshome musician who is autistic, wrote about Sirag in one of more than a dozen nomination letters for the Arc award: "Mary-Minn Sirag is someone I instantly felt a powerful kinship with - intelligent, literate, insightful and very unapologetically autistic. Her candor and willingness to share and speculate and advocate serve as a beacon for me as I continue to accept and come to terms with my own lifetime of undiagnosed autism."
Nan Lester, founder of the Eugene-based Asperger Advocacy Coalition, hired Sirag two years ago to be a mentor
Rest of long article -
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/0...cityregion