For those of us who care about children and recognize that autism presents one of the biggest issues, both legal as well as practical, facing education and society, we would desperately like to understand what it is to be autistic. The problem, of course, is our inability to envision a world that doesn’t fit into our own paradigm. By definition, our paradigm is “normal” and the world of the autistic isn’t.
But there is an op-ed piece in Newsday today that expresses rather well the world of an autistic young man, who is clearly very articulate. I can’t vouch that his experience is the same as anyone else’s with an autism spectrum diagnosis because I wouldn’t have a clue. But having striven to both better understand what this is about, and to explain it in my terribly inept fashion from time to time, I found this piece compelling.
The writer immediately breaks through certain myths and assumptions about autism and learning disabilities. He is intelligent and fully capable of expressing his ideas (That’s right, all autistic and learning disabled people are not subnormal intelligence). Moreover, his metacognitive skills are highly developed, and he understands without apparent anger how he has been stigmatized all his life for being autistic.
If I have anything critical to say about this op-ed, it’s that it stops far too soon. There is so much more I would like to know, even if it’s only one person’s experience and may not reflect the full spectrum of autistic people. It’s better to gain some understanding than none.
Moreover, while we are making efforts to bring some clue about autism into the world of law enforcement and the law, and little by little inroads are being made, the world of autistic spectrum disorder is not going to wait for the rest of us to get with the program. It is happening, and it’s happening at an amazing pace. We can either ramp up our understanding all around or we’ll be “tsking” about the tragedies that should never have happened.
Some of the tragedies will come from law enforcement’s inability to really comprehend what autistic children are all about . After all, they can barely grasp the concept of deaf people, likely to be shot for not obeying the verbal commands of a scared and angry cop. How then can we expect something as amorphous as autism to have a meaningful place on their radar?
But the consequence for the education and social utility of this huge number of children in society is at stake. Do we ship them all off to some island where they won’t get in the way of “normal” people, or do we start acknowledging their existence and make the effort to subsume them into a society that doesn’t know how to deal with them or even who they are. This is a great piece, and worth the minute of your time.
But there is an op-ed piece in Newsday today that expresses rather well the world of an autistic young man, who is clearly very articulate. I can’t vouch that his experience is the same as anyone else’s with an autism spectrum diagnosis because I wouldn’t have a clue. But having striven to both better understand what this is about, and to explain it in my terribly inept fashion from time to time, I found this piece compelling.
The writer immediately breaks through certain myths and assumptions about autism and learning disabilities. He is intelligent and fully capable of expressing his ideas (That’s right, all autistic and learning disabled people are not subnormal intelligence). Moreover, his metacognitive skills are highly developed, and he understands without apparent anger how he has been stigmatized all his life for being autistic.
If I have anything critical to say about this op-ed, it’s that it stops far too soon. There is so much more I would like to know, even if it’s only one person’s experience and may not reflect the full spectrum of autistic people. It’s better to gain some understanding than none.
Moreover, while we are making efforts to bring some clue about autism into the world of law enforcement and the law, and little by little inroads are being made, the world of autistic spectrum disorder is not going to wait for the rest of us to get with the program. It is happening, and it’s happening at an amazing pace. We can either ramp up our understanding all around or we’ll be “tsking” about the tragedies that should never have happened.
Some of the tragedies will come from law enforcement’s inability to really comprehend what autistic children are all about . After all, they can barely grasp the concept of deaf people, likely to be shot for not obeying the verbal commands of a scared and angry cop. How then can we expect something as amorphous as autism to have a meaningful place on their radar?
But the consequence for the education and social utility of this huge number of children in society is at stake. Do we ship them all off to some island where they won’t get in the way of “normal” people, or do we start acknowledging their existence and make the effort to subsume them into a society that doesn’t know how to deal with them or even who they are. This is a great piece, and worth the minute of your time.
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Two books on Asperger’s syndrome (the high functioning end of the autistic spectrum) are also helpful. Look me in the eye by John Elder Robison (Augusten Burroughs brother) and a children’s book called something like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.
Thanks Beth. For anyone who has, or works with, or is in any way involved in the lives of autistic or LD children, understanding is crucial. Appreciate the additional info.
My Autism in Infants site
I know many parents say their children were normal up to a certain point, but most people’ s children with autism are either their first or second child and so how do you truly know what is normal. I don’ t know, maybe they are right. Levi was my 5th biological child. He did not bond to me like my others though I nursed him into his toddler age. I knew by six months he DEFINITELY had autism, though our pediatrician said there was no way or evidence that I could possibly know. At 2 years of age, guess what? …