Is Autism Good or Bad?
I find that there are two tendencies when it comes to autism. Some see autism as the worst possible thing. Some parents live in fear that their child will be diagnosed with autism.
The rhetoric of RFK Jr is only increasing this. Autism is seen as a thief that steals the very soul of our children. We must find a way to defeat by all means possible.
Others see autism as a gift. There is a growing autism community that celebrates autism. Autism is seen as a natural part of human diversity and is part of the beauty of humankind. They strongly react to any negative depiction of autism.
That second way of looking at autism is the normal pendulum swing from the unhealthy understanding featured in the first option. But neither tells the full story.
Having been deeply immersed in the wonderful world of autism for a number of decades, I can say that autism is about BOTH beauty AND grief.
I think that in general we are moving away from the fear-based understand of autism, despite the best efforts of RFK jr. But autism can still be very hard.
Whether it is the nonverbal individual who has a meltdown because they cannot communicate what is going on inside them or the highly educated person who feels excluded because they struggle to understand social cues.
I suspect people would rather look at things in black and white, that autism is all bad or all good but things are actually grey. There are things to be celebrated and there are things to be mourned. It is not popular to admit this but it is the truth.
I am thankful that there is a more positive message surrounding autism but we need to balance that with a realistic understanding of the very real struggles that take place.
