By Olivia Cushman
With the concept of neurodiversity and each of our unique amazing brains working together in mind, could autism truly be considered a disorder, or a unique ability or gift? Should we be spreading awareness of a disorder that has no cure, or should we, rather, try to be more accepting of the beautiful spectrum of autism that exists?
The idea that autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder is, in my view — and has been proven to be — an inherently pathological one that follows a social and societal model of disability. These barriers among social norms are what makes it difficult for the autistic community, including myself, to be accepted and/or feel loved by others.
For me, my issues with socialization and making/keeping friends growing up was a major contributor to the development of my depression that emerged when I was about 13. I felt like no one needed me or looked up to me; this led me into an extra dark time in my life where I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Even nowadays, I still have my moments. And the worst part is, anxiety keeps me from thinking highly of myself sometimes with the justification that I’m only building my ego.
But, enough about me. I know that I’m slowly working toward fully accepting myself, and if that’s the case, I should give time for others in my life to adjust to me too–that only makes sense. It’s these societal barriers and social norms that are the problem, not autistic people.
So, what makes a person disabled? For autistic people, it usually is a combination of social and mental functioning differences that give us the idea that someone is disabled, which is not only incredibly harmful to the community, but it causes ignorance among people who are neurotypical.
Common differences in how people with autism function include rigid thinking, impulsiveness, heightened sensitivity to external stimuli and heightened empathy, and repetitive patterns of behavior that others find “odd,” when it’s not inherently harming anyone around them. The heightened sensitivity to loud noises, bright lights, or overwhelming emotional environments can cause “meltdowns,” or episodes where autistic people express their discomfort by crying, stimming (repetitive movements that occupy the brain), or disassociating from current social situations.
I remember having these meltdowns from when I was a young child, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve simply been able to deal with them better. I can now excuse myself from the room when I feel a meltdown coming on, which I couldn’t exactly do when I was a child. Next time you think a child is having a temper tantrum or just being bratty, just know that it could be an extremely harsh environment for the child, and they don’t know how else to express it than having a meltdown in public.
Autism “awareness” isn’t helping much with this, as organizations such as Autism Speaks put much, if not the majority of their funds toward vague “research” and “spreading awareness” when they’re really just spreading the idea that autistic people are truly disabled, rather than people that are just wired differently than the average person. It simply isn’t enough to just “spread awareness”.
We need to start accepting autistic people for who they are, which is much more than their “disorder” and requires actual work. As a society, I am more than confident that we can progressively work together to accept the autistic community into our own.
