Callista wrote:
Just this: When you get your feet under you, and you have the will to fight, think about the other people who've experienced what you have. The one thing that can banish that fear and the need to hide is the ability to care about others. Eventually, you start to realize that you really would rather take a few risks than stand by and let other people get treated like crap. It won't be some kind of heroic selflessness; it's simply that you feel better about yourself and the world and the future if you start fighting for the rights of other people, because maybe that means that somebody else in the world won't have to go through what you did. It's a matter of hope--or, if you're a particularly cynical person, at the very least a way to say that you're sick of autistics being hurt, and you're not going to take it anymore.
This is probably why I do autism advocacy, especially when it comes to educating parents of autistic children. I don't want any child to be overlooked and miss out on support as I had.
I basically have a lot of symptoms that fit the diagnostic criteria to autism. I needed to know why I was different from others because I couldn't cope with being so different than them. Now I can. I've managed to get my family to see me as autistic, how my symptoms were more than personality traits or a mother who just coddled me for too long. My family had to see me at my worst to learn that. Now I'm going through the same struggles with the other side of my family.
If people misunderstand autism then it's their fault. All we can do is educate. If we stop calling ourselves autistic it's just giving in to discrimination. It's like those kids who are bullied in school who get plastic surgery. A bully will find other reasons to make fun of you. It's got nothing to do with appearance. They just don't like you and would give you a hard time for wearing red shoes or being skinny. What we really have to do is stamp it out. I guess I'm one of those cynical people.
I think Jaden said it best. The OP can go right ahead and separate himself/herself from the autistic spectrum but I'm here to educate the masses. Or troll them right back.
I'm fortunate though people have never targeted me for being autistic. I've had people deny it but I've never been made fun of, or worse. When you have ADHD too you kind of just expect the stigma. There are some ignorant people out there who rather remain ignorant and they are loudest most discriminating people of all.
23 Oct 2012, 12:36 am
