World Autism Day: BeAware of the Great Autism Swag

From http://learningneverstops.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/communication-difficulties-in-autism-my-personal-view/

Today is World Autism Day (well the day I'm writing and posting this, you could be reading this on any day like Christmas... April 2 is world autism day).

I think people are all aware autism exists. Like you had to be living under a rock for a very long time if you never heard of autism. Whether you call it Asperger's Syndrome or Pervasive Development Disorder, it's all autism. It's actually a spectrum. Some people you don't notice it really, and others are more obvious, depending on where they are on the spectrum shrinks use to identify whatever classification they give it.

AUTISM AWARENESS

For beginners, what should you be aware of? 

1.  The biggest deals about an autism diagnosis regards social skills, communication issues, heightened senses, and repetitive behaviors (brain gets stuck). Generally speaking, to most people off the spectrum, people on the spectrum are weird and possibly annoying at face value. Deep down, they are loyal, sincere, and will sacrifice for your better good.

2. It is not a disease. If I sneeze, you won't catch my autism. It won't kill me. It doesn't need cured because it's not a disease.

3.  To people on the spectrum, people off the spectrum appear dysfunctional. We forgive you for it, eventually.

4. Nobody looks autistic.

5. Rainman is not autistic.

6. Vaccinations do not necessarily cause autism, but that doesn't mean they don't cause it. We just don't know. Too much politics and non-autistic "normal" stuff getting in the way of finding out.

7. What does cause autism? We don't know but the world of science suspects a genetic and environmental mix.

8. Spankings will not cure autism. If you intervene with shitty parenting to a family where the kid is on the spectrum, you are probably going to make it worse and therefore deserve a good smack upside your head and a swift kick to your netherregions.

9. Parenting a kid on the spectrum is extreme parenting, like most parents climb hills, but parents of children on the spectrum are climbing cliffs, and parents on the spectrum raising children on the spectrum are climbing those cliffs without rope.

10. The biggest warning and caution you can take with autism, don't fuck with the parents. We are people on the edge. Next random stranger "expert" at places like Walmart who tell me how to handle my kid on the spectrum... I am probably going to look at you like you are on crack and respond with, screaming, very loudly, "Why are you telling ME that you have gonorrhea? Talk to your doctor, and put the crack pipe down. Damn, some people..." So again, don't fuck with parents of children on the spectrum. You are welcome to help them without judgment... 

For more advanced autism awareness... 

1. People on the spectrum, contrary to the shrinks' opinion, do have empathy. In fact, they empathize better with people off the spectrum than people off the spectrum can empathize with them. Cool article here.

2. People on the spectrum also, contrary to the shrinks' opinion, have an imagination. In fact, they live outside of the box and have difficulty thinking inside the box.

3. Autism is very misunderstood. Obviously... this should be a duh. If communication is an issue, there's a good possibility you are not understanding, or better said, getting an accurate account of the situation.

4. People with severe autism, the very few who found a way to communicate, actually have a lot of similarities with people with high functioning autism, so if your child is severe autism and not communicating much, you may find a better understanding and some good clues to your trial and error process by listening to people with high functioning autism.

5. People with autism do have feelings. They just don't express them the way most people do, and many times develop a poker face. More often than not, the feelings are actually heightened. It's the sociopaths who don't have feelings, and they are the ones who express fake feelings so well you think they do... aw hell they are such good actors they do sometimes fool themselves which I guess in that case, they kind of have feelings.

6. The reason the autism diagnosis has increased so much throughout the recent years is a change in the diagnostic criteria and awareness.

7. This is a neat article, and if you type in Google, "autism and bacteria in the gut," you get a lot of neat studies, some that might explain why the food allergy / DAN doctors methods do help some people. My instinct tells me that prebiotics does not mix well with this bacteria, and I wouldn't be surprised if the people who have this bacteria crave carbs more so than your average person.

8. People on the spectrum are like cats living in a dogs' world. If you want to understand the differences between autism and non-autism, look at cats and dogs and their behaviors socially, their motivations, and their sense of comfort...

9. People on the spectrum make good friends. They may require a little more effort, but they take friendship seriously and best of all, you don't have to worry about them playing you. They say what they mean. That is very refreshing in a person.

10. Children on the spectrum are really just like normal kids, but amplified. Everything you can possibly say about an autistic child that makes them autistic, a person is going to say, "Well all kids do that." That's because all kids do. It's just a bigger deal with autism to a level where it required professional help.