Autistic Surfer Clay Marzo Masters Waves but Struggles on Land

Pro-surfer’s Asperger’s Syndrome Enhances His Surfing

By JOHN DONVAN and CAREN ZUCKER ABC NETWORK

April 26, 2010

If you aren’t familiar with Clay Marzo you need to get in the water and paddle out. This guy is fantastic. As a surfer I am drawn to the water.. but as a fan I am drawn to the person. Check out how he does it!

When pro-surfer Clay Marzo rides the waves off Maui’s coast, it’s hard to imagine that a man so gifted in the water could struggle so much on land. Beyond a few words, Marzo, 20, finds it hard to hold a conversation. Ask him a question, and finding an answer seems to cause him pain. Chat with him for half an hour, and the words never never flow any easier, because Marzo has autism.

He has a milder form known as Asperger’s syndrome. Labeled a disability, Asperger’s may help to explain why Marzo is so good on a surfboard.

Since he was a little boy, when his difficulty in communicating became evident, Marzo zeroed in on water. He wanted to be near the water, to be in it — a focus so intense that it was actually obsessive, according to his mother, Jill Marzo. Obsession is part of Asperger’s.

Surfing Obsession Leads to Stardom

In the water, “he was comfortable in his skin,” said Jill Marzo. “Out of the water, he is not comfortable, even today. In the water, it’s like he can breathe.” 

Marzo spends hours a day in the ocean, year after year. Some Asperger’s obsessions, such as fixating on train schedules or “Star Wars” or lightbulbs, can disrupt. But Marzo’s water obsession evolved into surfing, where obsession is required to succeed. Marzo’s obsession has made him a star surfer. He’s a favorite with surfing magazines, is sponsored by Quicksilver apparel and earns an income that reaches into the six figures.

Surfing Fame Leads to Struggle

But on dry land, says his mom, Marzo’s a fish out of water, unable to process easily anything that takes quick thinking. He struggles in getting around, meeting strangers and answering questions. It’s too much too fast for his brain to take in, and the attention that accompanies his surfing fame makes for an uncomfortable experience.

“It’s got to be more simple,” said Marzo. “You know? Simple. Surf and eat and sleep, you know? My three top things.” That might sound simple enough, but it’s never simple to live with Asperger’s. For Marzo, though, it just happened to work out:

He needed the water, and the sea was there to catch him.

(Source: inventsuccess.org)

Isn’t it time to do something that has a long-term affect that will bring about positive effects for kids, parents, communities,etc? If you have a child on the spectrum, if you are a young adult, if you are an adult, doesn’t it make sense to support an organization that is working on positive changes, future successes for those with ASD? Even if you can only donate $1.00 or $1.00 a week or month or whatever, every donation moves InventSuccess and My Autism Awareness forward in a positive way to work at their mission. Think about this for 2012, don’t be idle any longer as it’s showing that nothing being done is not just nothing…it’s impacting the future! Visitwww.inventsuccess.org and www.myautismawareness.org and make a positive difference today!

In the United States, we’ve seen a fifteen-foldincrease in autism diagnoses over the past two decades. In fact, it’s currently estimated that almost 1% of US children have an autism-spectrum disorder (ASD), while the rates in US adults are largely unknown. Autism is described in the DSM-IV, listed as a disorder usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescence. Autism is further categorized as a pervasive developmental disorder, falling within the autistism spectrum, along with Asperger’s and PDD-NOS.

Autism is characterized by impaired social development, limited communication skills, and repetitive movements. Autistic individuals may havedysfunctional mirror neuron systems, which are involved in imitation learning and empathy. The mirror neuron system is thought of as the neural basis for human social cognition, and anatomical studies show a significant reduction in cortical mass of brain areas directly populated by mirror neurons in individuals with autism.

The causes of autism, however, remain unclear. Genetic factors, dysfunctional cell-to-cell communication, and even environmental factors such as teratogens (chemicals that cause birth defects) have all been implicated. Indeed, ASDs may be as unique as the people who live with them, and a one-size-fits-all explanation may never be sufficient. One thing we know for certain is that there has never been a legitimate link found between autism and vaccine use. The science simply does not support childhood vaccination as a causal factor.

In a special issue of Discover Magazine released earlier this year, five intriguing yet largely speculative causes of the disorder are discussed. From an autoimmune hypothesis to a model of impaired mitochondria, these provocative explanations challenge conventional wisdom, and may, in fact, open the door to a new way of thinking about ASDs. We have learned a lot about autism recently, and with each new discovery, the picture grows clearer.

Both children and adults with ASDs appear to have difficulty connecting social cues with a personal emotional experience. Interestingly, they are largely immune to the highly “contagious” yawn. In astudy performed on yawning behaviors in young children, only 11% of autistic children aged five to twelve-years-old caught yawns, as opposed to 43% of matched controls.

In multiple clinical studies, oxytocin, the hormone implicated in human bonding, has been shown to improve social skills in adults with ASDs. Compared to placebo, autistic adults taking oxytocindemonstrated an increased ability to understand emotional speech, improved identification of cooperation in a simulated social setting, and even a reduction in repetitive behaviors. This is an exciting development, since there is currently no known medical treatment for social or communication problems, aside from intensive behavioral intervention.

Last year, a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience provided convincing evidence that one of the first signs of autism is excessive brain growth. Although children are usually diagnosed between the ages of three and four, secondary to behavioral problems and delays, it is notable that autistic children have measurably larger brains within the first year of life. Although no cure for autism exists, earlier screening tools may lead to earlier behavioral interventions.

Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than in girls, and until recently, researchers could only speculate as to a genetic or hormonal cause for the discrepancy. But, in astudy released earlier this year, a gene-hormone interaction that appears to be largely implicated was identified. Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor-alpha (RORA) is a gene that indirectly controls production of sex hormones via an enzyme called aromatase. In the brains of individuals with autism, the way these neurochemicals communicate seems to be dysregulated, causing lower than normal levels of RORA proteins and aromatase, and a significant buildup of testosterone. This couldexplain why boys are so much more commonly affected than girls, since high levels of estrogen appear to protect against dysfunction of this system.

Another recent trend I’ve noticed in the scientific literature is one that celebrates the unique perspective, focus, and creativity seen in the autistic community, instead of fixating on deficits alone. The human side of autism is beautifully displayed in a recent issue of National Geographic, wherein photographer Timothy Archibald presents “Echolilia,” an expose of his child’s autism, and a joint effort between father and son to learn more about the minds of one another, minds that often feel frustratingly inaccessible. In addition, a New York Times article published just this week tells the romantic story of Jack and Kristen, two young people who love one another in spite of, or perhaps by virtue of, the daily autistic experience. Stories like these remind us that the science and humanity of autism are inextricably linked, and we cannot know one without knowing the other.

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Parents often ask me whether teaching sign language or using pictures to help their child communicate will inhibit their child’s ability to speak? The answer is NO!  In fact, just the opposite happens.

It may seem counter intuitive, but research supports the fact that by learning to communicate with signs or pictures, a child is actually more likely to speak if they are able to do so.  Pictures or signs can’t make a child talk, but they can facilitate the communication process, leading to speech.

Did you know that many children on the autism spectrum have oral-motor problems that make it difficult for them to coordinate the movements of their mouths to make the sounds of speech? This is often called apraxia or dyspraxia and although not unique to children on the spectrum, it is often seen in this population.

If you have an oral-motor coordination problem, the pressure to speak volitionally, or “on demand” (like when you’re trying to get a child to imitate you) can actually make the speech worse!  By using signs and/or pictures, the pressure is taken off the mouth and as a result, speech may occur more spontaneously when it is taught in conjunction with nonverbal approaches like sign language and pictures.

Can you imagine the frustration of trying to communicate when your mouth won’t do what your brain tells it to do?  Add to that the low frustration tolerance (giving up easily) and poor impulse control (wanting what you want when you want it) and you have a recipe for avoiding communication at the least and increasing behavioral problems and tantrums at the most.

By introducing sign language or pictures, all of the above frustrations begin to dissipate and the opportunities for successful communication are created.  Many children who have the oral-motor difficulties often have other motor-coordination problems and for them, sign language may not be a good option. Their signs may be so imprecise as to be difficult to understand.  That’s not to say that they might not learn some approximations to signs that may still be useful.

The acronym PECS has come to be synonymous with the use of pictures for many people in the autism community. PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System and is a system developed by Andrew Bondy, Ph.D. and Lori Frost, M.S. in Delaware. It is a specific communication system that can be used initially to help a child learn to communicate and then discontinued once speech emerges, or it may be a primary means for a non-verbal child to communicate.

In the last decade, many parents have chosen to teach their “neuro-typical” children sign language  before they learn to speak in order to facilitate communication and reduce frustration.

Whether or not you choose to teach sign language and/or pictures to a child should be a decision that is based upon the needs of the individual child. Whatever means of communication you choose, everyone involved with that child should know the child’s system in order to respond to and encourage all attempts at communication.