"the certainty that having autism is not going to limit his expectations"

Joel Sidney is graduating from UC Berkeley today with an almost perfect grade-point average, a bachelor's degree in American Studies, an honors thesis on Bay Area bluegrass music and the certainty that having autism is not going to limit his expectations. […]

Joel, the oldest of three children, seemed unusual early on, was nearly deaf in his right ear by age 3 and was diagnosed with autism when he was 12.

"It wasn't being diagnosed every 20 minutes back then," said Schuman, 58, an internist who works with substance abusers.

Autism, a complex developmental disability caused by a neurological disorder, interferes with the normal functioning of the brain and affects a person's ability to convey thoughts and interact with others.

"Joel has never really said the word," Schuman said. "He usually doesn't want to talk about it." […]

In his letter supporting Sidney's application to Cal, Cook described him as an extraordinary student who "proved time and again the ability to grasp and apply difficult concepts from cultural studies, anthropology and gender studies to music" and overcame "enormous difficulty" to succeed academically.

How did he do it?

"At some point I realized I needed to work more or give up," Sidney said.

As a result, he adapts, compensates and labors fiendishly. For example, he taped his classes and listened to the recordings afterward, taking notes along the way. […]

…read it all:
UC grad is special - and very able
by Patricia Yollin, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 May 2008