Miss Montana overcame many challenges on her way to the crown

When Alexis Wineman, Miss Montana 2012, discusses her desire to help people with autism, she’s not speaking in flowery beauty pageant platitudes about trying to make the world a better place.

She’s speaking from experience.

Wineman, of Cut Bank, was diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder, including borderline Aspergers Syndrome, when she was 11 years old. The diagnosis followed a two-year process that included counseling, an exhaustive battery of tests and at least one misdiagnosis.

Wineman was often teased and bullied at school and said she usually avoided interaction with others when she was younger.

“I felt so alone growing up, and I still do at times,” she said Thursday during a conference on autism at the Montana State University Billings downtown campus. “Nobody understood what I was going through. I separated myself from my classmates and spent most of my time alone. I stayed quiet to hide my speech problems. Due to these overwhelming and daily struggles, I looked at myself as a punching bag for others, and a burden to my family.”

Wineman said the diagnosis helped her understand why she was different from other kids. And with support from her mother, teachers, counselors and her three siblings, she matured into the poised, confident 18-year-old, whose stand-up comedy routine left the audience rolling in the aisles at the Miss Montana pageant.

Read more of  By Tom Howard/Billings Gazette article at the Missoulian HERE.

Guardian Spirit designed to teach vocational, social, life skills to people with autism

When Marcus Morris was a child, adults considered him incorrigible. Physicians incorrectly diagnosed him with multiple personality disorder, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

He grew up a ward of the state, unadoptable, and as an adult he blew through 68 jobs in 10 years, unable to earn a steady paycheck. He was void of self-worth.

Morris, now 32, eventually was diagnosed with autism, a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties and restricted, repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behavior.

He wanted to socialize with others but failed miserably and knew it.

While coming to terms with his diagnosis and treatment, Morris immersed himself in the safety of a virtual world. As he confided his habit to his therapist, his counselor suggested an online three-dimensional virtual world where Morris could socialize and connect with others.

He soon was interacting with others through an avatar, a virtual incarnation of himself. He was able to explore the world, meet people, socialize, participate in activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with others.

He thrived in this parallel universe. He could make mistakes and not be fired or chastised. He gained confidence and a renewed sense of self-worth, traits he feared were lost. He rediscovered them in a virtual website.

He is now so self-assured that on April 21, Morris, and a savvy board of directors, will launch Guardian Spirit, a 3D virtual world that Morris founded. The virtual setting is designed to teach vocational, social and life skills to people with autism through simulated training.

Read more of Cindy Uken's The Billings Gazette article HERE.