Aren't We Forgetting What it Really Means to be Autistic?
I never felt trapped and I have always been sociable. I would get frustrated when I would be rejected and have a hard time with other kids and when kids wouldn't want to play with me or when I would be banned from peoples homes. Some autistic children do want friends so they might try and reach out for them but they don't know how to do it so people assume they want no friends and assume they just prefer to be alone. I know one man with autism and he is always talking to people and very sociable. I find that hard to believe he would be trapped, same as other members in my autism group. I have been described as being in my own world and I have been told I forget about everything around me because I get so into my computer or game. But even people with ADHD tune everything out and so does my husband when he is focusing and when he has to read.
I think the term autism has changed a lot over the last twenty years or so. We had the term Asperger's in the 1980's but it was widely unknown. It wouldn't even be in the encyclopedia. Also it used to not be on the autistic spectrum until the 1990s according to Temple Grandin in her The Autistic Brain book. But then it was decided it was shortly after the DSM IV release so by the time I was diagnosed, it already was on it so I was given as having an autism spectrum disorder when before no one would say I had autism despite the characteristics.
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Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed.
Daughter: NT, no diagnoses.
I believe that Autism is a detonator word. It has no meaning until we internalize it. And then, it detonates something different for each one. For some its an asset, for others it's a disadvantage, for others its a disorder.
It is a fuzzy word.
In me, it detonated my internal introspection. It gave me plausible explanations for my weirdness, and a kind of peace and acceptance that I hadn't experienced before.
Not all my weird things fit into the Autism box. My neuro-configuration also includes DTD which in short is a absent internal GPS. I have also gained insight how it has had an impact on my behavior, and how it strongly interacts with the Autism box.
With all the shortcomings, the word Autism has had a positive effect on my life. And a sense of calm joy when I find that I can begin to explain myself to myself.
I don't remember ever feeling trapped due to being autistic. There were times that I felt trapped when my mum was trying to dictate that I was going to live for today, in the present. To fake being something that I'm not would feel like a trap to me. I also don't want to fake anything for the satisfaction of anyone who wants me to come acrossed as NT.
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Who wants to adopt a Sweet Pea?
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