Anirudh Hattangadi is a 34 year old adult on the autism spectrum who works as an analyst, drives a four wheeler and exhorts autistic youth to learn and be bold. He also has advice for parents.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am 34 years living in Bangalore with my parents.I was diagnosed with autism about 32 years ago when I was 2 and a half years old child . It was around then,when my parents noticed something strange in me.
I studied class 10th in Karnataka state Board Bcom in IGNOU ( Indira Gandhi National open university). I grew up in various parts of the country.
Where do you work and what do you do?
I am working at Accenture as an analyst.The work that I do is reconciling the Accounting data of the client in excel , oracle software and sending them to clients.
After your 10th did you do any vocational course? Where did you learn the skills for getting employed?
After my class 10th, I did computer course in a private computer center , where I learnt Ms office which as we know are important for most types of jobs.
What is your strength and challenges?
My strengths: I can calculate numbers fast, upto some extent.Have willingness to work hard,have willingness to help people
Challenges: I am a bit slow in learning things. I can get confused while someone is explaining things so there's always an urge to take down the notes. Oral instructions can be confusing to me, unless it's written down somewhere and the same is performed on regular basis.
What do you like to do in your free time?
During free time, I like to do volunteer work , travellig climbing hills, watching interesting movies, listen to any melodious music,go out with friends , some of the colleagues and cousins.
I have been to hills like Nandi hills many times which is at the outskirts of Bangalore I like going there whenever it seems feasible. I have also been to NALS Coonoor campus in Tamil Nadu where there are lots of adventurous activities.
Image below: Anirudh In the black t-shirt at the NALS Coonoor Campus at their Adventure Camp
I have lot of favourite movies.One of which is Murder at the Orient express.I basically like murder mystery's, action movies or movies where police CBI ,tax authorities , lawyers, politician or even judge as a hero successfully fight against corruption or unusual stories of autistic adults leading successful marriage or developing career in law or finance.
Tell us about your friends and colleagues
About my friends, I have couple of them outside my organisation whom I hang with once in a way. Also with in the organisation I have friends whom I go for meals tea breake etc and some of them I hang out during weekends too. My colleagues are nice, helpful and encouraging.
What is your advice to the autistic youth and their parents?
(Before answering to this particular question , I would like to caution that what ever advice I am giving is purely based on my own thoughts, which may be right or wrong.This is not to personally offend or hurt anyone)
My advice to the autistic youth is to learn as much as possible and feasible, not stop learning at anytime in life, especially learn things that is important to your career. Ofcourse not only that but also learn other life skills ( like cooking and other surviving skills) .Try their level best to achieve as successfully as possible to whichever field they like .
Also I advise to be always grateful towards their parents and other immediate family members,as they are the only lifelines. Even if they say things or use tone that are not very pleasant to hear ,try not to be hurt about it, for it doesn't mean that they don't care about you .Even if sometimes it's not agreeable with everything they say, just learn to say it politely,try to rationally argue based on own experience and ideas.
Lastly I advise autistic youth to be bold enough to face the world as much as possible, not to be afraid of anyone
My advice to the parents of the autistic youth is: Encourage them to do whatever they prefer in life, as long as it's really not harming themselves or any other persons or any other living creatures. Do not judge or assume what they are capable of or what they are not, without trying. Encourage them to lead as normal life as possible.
Do not keep reminding them that they are different from others of their contemporary colleagues. For they too are humans like anyone else deserving equal opportunities in the world. Also do not discourage them for marriage (if they are interested in) just because they have been labeled as autistic or even abnormal by the society.
Do not decide that no one would be tolerant towards their autism or autistic traits.Even if parents have all fixed ideas of life which they may think it to be realistic, don't try imposing them with it too much, Ofcourse this is not to say that they should not be realistic.
If they do trivial mistakes like dropping things down ( unless it has really caused major problems) do not use say rude and insulting things to them. We all make mistakes, this doesn't mean that we deserve to hear insults from our family members. No one intentionally drop things to irritate others. Even if the autistic youth don't sometimes obey their parents, they should not judge them as stupid or stubborn. For, they have their own experience and way of thinking. Do not assume that because they are autistic they aren't capable of making right decisions.
What do you wish for or look forward to?
I am looking forward to see our society to be more autistic friendly, like they are given equal opportunity in the outside world as per the theme this year - below), they too are included under rights to person with disabilities act.
The theme for the year is "In the exercise of those rights and their freedom to make their own choices, let us ensure that we make available the necessary accommodations and support to persons with autism. With access to the support they need and choose, they will be empowered to face the key milestones in every person’s life, such as deciding where and with whom to live, whether to get married and establish a family, what type of work to pursue, and how to manage their personal finances.
When they enjoy equal opportunity for self-determination and autonomy, persons with autism will be empowered to make an even stronger positive impact on our shared future."
