Day 2: What I love about being autistic is...

It’s day two of this month-long challenge and I am profoundly stuck: I am not autistic, and I cannot answer the proposition. I have often thought that my own hearing impairment, since birth, offered a clue into what it is like to be autistic. But I still cannot genuinely say I know what it is like to be autistic.

Instead, I do my best to understand – as I wish people would do for me and my hearing problem. I listen in on many Facebook forums and Twitter feeds to see what actually autistic people say. I’ve read numerous books in the last few years, some written by actually autistic people.

What strikes me the most about the people writing these fora and books is how proud they are of their abilities, and how fiercely they want to be recognized as different, not less. I also hear much of the struggles they have in getting by in jobs or social situations.

I can instead say what I love about those people, and that is their pride in their abilities and their strength to endure against a world that is often indifferent and at least not understanding. I hope this month we can change at least a few opinions or open a few minds to the possibilities of hiring people with autism, or at least learning to treat autistic people with the respect they deserve.

I would love to hear what parents or actually autistic people have to say about their pride in autism.

thanks,
Paul