Monday, November 18, 2013

This Is Autism: Cursory Observations From A Nuerotypical

Written by Tim Villegas 

Originally published at Think Inclusive

I have in some form or another been a teacher, friend, brother-in-law, and general fan of autistic individuals for over a decade. If there is one thing that I come back to over and over again when I think about autism and autistic people is that they are…

Simply People.

First and foremost...individuals with real desires, real wants, real thoughts. I have heard many times how autistic people are "trapped" in their own world. I believe I see this differently now then I used to. It is more that their hyper-focus on what they want is foreign to most of us (nuerotypicals anyway). So...I wouldn't really characterize this a "trapped" but that they "choose" to live there. As someone who wants to support autistic people...it is important to realize that most likely they are happy to be there. So in understanding this...we want to draw out the specialized interests of autistic people in order to engage and celebrate their interests in a positive and life-affirming direction.

So. Remember.

Especially if you are an educator. There is no mystery to autism that is really different than the mystery of the human experience. We are different. And different is beautiful.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you! Loved this. It's rare to hear from non autistics and so refreshing to be advocated for.

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