Autistic Hedgehog

Asperger’s Syndrome Primer: How it Feels in My Head - A Guide for the Terminally Allistic

[Allistic Perception: Socially awkward people just use it as an excuse to be lazy.

Autistic Perception: OH DEAR GOD WHAT IS THAT SOUND MAKE IT STOP need to stim now Oh YUCK texture bleh bus full of people CAN’T BREATHE hey check out everything I know about–ooo shiny is that person smiling at me is it a real smile or a smile-frown is a smrown?]

Because I just had to wake up to the continuation of this nonsense this morning. 

Apparently some allistics simply can’t resist the belief that they know so much more about what it means to be autistic than actual autistic people. Of course, those of us who are autistic know that allistics would be hard-pressed to deal with the constant barrage of sensory perceptions, distractions, confusion, anxiety and fears we face on a daily basis.

So here, allistics, is a glimpse inside the general process of my brain. It doesn’t really slow down or shut up pretty much ever, and this is actually a pretty tame example, but baby steps. Clearly this lesson needs to be approached in small, bite-sized pieces of information for those of you who have yet to dislodge your heads from your asses. 

(Hedgehogs, feel free to send your own examples. An AS diagnosis is not necessary–we’re all autistic here anyway, regardless. In fact, please send your own examples.)

[Autism?

That means ‘less intelligent than neurotypicals’, right?]

There are way too many people out there who think that 'Autism’ is a synonym for 'stupid’.

mod note: I think there’s a huge problem with the way intelligence is viewed in society. We have such a narrow definition of what makes people smart. My father was a brilliant man, but not in any conventional kind of way. He could fix anything (except the Nintendo, but that was honest-to-god the only thing), jury-rig anything, and he had this talent that allowed him to hang all the pictures in a new house first, then put the furniture in and have it all look right.

People love to use the Einstein quote: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” But for people like us, for people like my father, the problem isn’t being a fish judged by its ability to climb a tree.

The problem is being a fish that rigged a pulley system so it could haul itself up into the tree by its damn fins and that’s still not good enough for other people, because it’s not the way “normal” people do it. It’s not the way average, easily measurable intelligence would do it. Thus anything that doesn’t match the status quo gets dubbed “stupid”. In truth, very few people are anything like being stupid; they’re just different.

I think where I’m going with this is: Ignore the people who equate autism and stupidity. Their definition of intelligence is far too narrow and their definition of stupidity is far, far too wide. 

When allistics refer to Autism as something separate from the person.

Saw this on the Autism tag. “Look out Autism, we’re going to deal with you!” Okay, first off, don’t these people see how immature they sound? Like, “We’re going to fight you big bad Autism doo doo head!”

I think growing up being expected to behave socially appropriate by the schools I went to, has given me no tolerance for adults who cope the way toddlers do. Autism is a developmental disorder. It’s not the boogeyman, or the monster under your bed. A child shouldn’t have to deal with a parent, who refers to their diagnoses like a scared toddler. Finding out your child has Autism means you need to be more of a parent, that means helping your child, rather than calling “Autism” bad names as if you’re going to scare it off.

A lot of consideration should go to those of us with Autism who try to understand your situation. It’s like helping a 2 year old get over their fear of the dark. Adults with Autism shouldn’t have to come and tell you it’s going to be all right, because your sniffling over your child having a difference.

I’m sure I’ll be getting over dramatic responses about how, I don’t know what it’s like, and “You’re MEAN!”. Autistic people have a right to existence. They have a right to be treated as any other child would. That means not having to parent their parents, because their parents age regressed when they found out the diagnoses, and wanted to hide under their blankie and suck their thumb. How can a child have a childhood, when their parents hear the word Autism, and collapse into a self-pitying crying jag, or start chanting that they’re gonna beat that big bad Autism.

I am not exaggerating, on one of the Autism Every Day videos, they had the parents call on the “Powha of voodoo” to save their children from Autism. Autism Speaks is leading self-pitying martyr parents in a kindergarten sing-a-long. That is pathetic. Meanwhile Autistic children have to deal with the real world, while their parents go on Tumblr and other sites communing over how the big bad Autism ruined their lives.

So why should Autistic people be expected to function, when so many NTs have shown they can’t. No, I don’t have slack of empathy. I just reserve it for parents who act like parents. Not parents who woe is me over their child’s diagnoses. Not parents who go to one of Autism Speaks open house kinder care for parents with a child with Autism group “Everyone gets a hug because they helped their child today! Yay!” sessions. I reserve my empathy for adults who act like adults. Don’t tell me or anyone else with Autism they have functioning problems, while you’re dealing with life as a small child does.