Zoey Giesberg, MSW & Executive Assistant When talking about autism, the public seems to focus on children. Google “autism” in the images section and among the multitude of puzzle pieces is pictures of children. I completely understand why this is – autism is a developmental disorder that begins presenting itself in toddlers and that creates a need for early intervention so that these children can learn vital skills so they can adjust to the greater world. In fact, the biggest…
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Zoey Giesberg, MSW Last May, I walked across the USC campus for the last time. This wasn’t for any classes or any particular school-related check-up – it was a graduation ceremony. After four long years, I have received my diploma and can now call myself a legitimate social worker. I’m no longer a student, but an official Master in Social Work. And I got extremely lucky post-graduation. FACT has been generous enough to offer me a job post-graduation. I’m doing…
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Casey, GAP Program Member “Dance like nobody’s watching, Love like you’ve never been hurt, Sing like nobody’s listening and Live like it’s heaven on earth” I really like this quote because it brings inspiration, happiness, joy, peace and a life that’s filled with gratitude and individualism, not only with my art, but to who I am as a person. Since I am very in touch with God and have a close relationship with him, I believe he shines through me,…
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Zoey Giesberg, FACT Intern & Future MSW As I go about my journey to self-acceptance, I find myself engaging in informal autism research and self-evaluation. The more I learn about autism, the more I figure out how it applies to me and how I see it as a whole. So I’d like to share some things I’ve learned about autism, and thus myself. 1. Autism largely occurs through genetic mutation When I received my diagnosis at the age of two, the…
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Zoey Giesberg, FACT Intern & Future MSW One of the most repeated things I’ve heard in grad school is the phrase “self-care”. It is basically what you think it is – taking care of oneself. It feels like a no-brainer to take care of yourself to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but to practice self-care you have to be able to take a break from whatever is bringing you down and remind yourself you are worth the care. And I can…
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Zoey Giesberg, FACT Intern & Future MSW One of the common features of people on the autistic spectrum is a strict adherence to routine. There is a pattern to the day and to activities and all is well when following it. Throw in a wench by changing something up and suddenly life starts to crumble apart and there will be chaos. I wouldn’t say change isn’t welcome, but it’s confusing and stressful in a way most people would experience it.…
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Zoey Giesberg, FACT Intern & Future MSW A new year means a fresh start. Whether you celebrate it on January 1st or another date as per culture or religion, it’s a time of reflecting back on the actions of the previous year and vowing to make things better in the upcoming one. It’s the reason New Year’s resolutions revolve around trying to improve oneself and set new benchmarks to meet. So my New Year’s resolution is to become more comfortable and…
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Zoey Giesberg, FACT Intern & Future MSW Holidays and celebrations have always come with some baggage for me. I would start uncontrollably sobbing whenever a birthday cake with lit candles was brought out at parties and fights with siblings would always happen at any family gathering when I was a child. I have thankfully stopped being terrified at birthday cake candles (now made ironic by my undying love of scented candles), but family gatherings still make me tense up and…
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Zoey Giesberg, FACT Intern & Future MSW There are many things people don’t seem to believe about me when I first meet them. Let me break it down into the most common comments I receive: 1.You’re born and raised in Los Angeles? No way! (Because an educated white girl and being a native Angeleno is apparently not possible?) 2.You’re 27? No way! You look so much younger! 3.You’re autistic? No way! You don’t seem like it at all! This last…
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Zoey Giesberg, FACT Intern & Future MSW As the 2014-2015 school year begins, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the newest staff intern at FACT. Here are some basic facts (insert awkward laughing here) about me: I am 27 years old and a West Los Angeles native I am wrapping up my Masters of Social Work degree at the University of Southern California with an emphasis on community organizing, planning, and administration I got my…
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