The World We Live In …

Sometimes I get lost in our world. I admit, I begin to forget that many people do not have a positive outlook about Autism. I forget that they are hurting so much for their child or themselves as an adult Autistic that they say negative things or speak openly about how much they hate it. I forget that people do not understand and many do not want to understand the point of view from those of us who fully accept that Autism is hard, painful, and downright exhausting a lot of the time – even stirring up emotions of hopelessness, but we chose to be proactive. We chose to seek the positives and pull from our strengths and the strengths from our children. (Those of us who are parents.) I forget that some parents cannot see any strengths. I forget that they too are blinded and exhausted because they are living in their world secluded from adult Autistics like myself or children like my kids.

I forget how easy it is for people to generalize and stereotype all of us into one single voice.

I forget that all of us are capable of generalizing, leading into dehumanizing, ultimately manifesting minds that have created demons out of those who we have never encountered in real life. I see the words of those who “hate” Autism and I hurt. It riles up fear for my kids, it ripples anger at generalizations and that lack of effort people put to truly find out what they hate on, it makes me want to shutdown and never share any part of our life because it seems pointless. However, I refuse to react out of heated and unbalanced emotions. I refuse to turn this into anger against those who have hurt me. At this moment, I am taking the time to think about those of you who hate, who are angered, and who want to be heard for your opinions – I am validating you.

I am thinking of you and your world.



Continued ... The World We Live In …