Blake and John Muir -- And a ducky that he likes to chew. Blake, not John Muir. From our Yosemite trip in April.
Written during Autism Awareness Month.......
I just left a 4th grade classroom. OF sweet, typically developing kids. I gave a presentation about autism awareness,
which attempts to explain autism and encourage students to including autistic
kids in their activities. I came up so
short. Explaining autism feels
impossible. It is not cohesive. I sound like a phD student (or wannabe) when
I try to go into autism-explanation-mode with adults; riffing on
neurotransmitters, individuality along the spectrum and whatever other $15 word
I can regurgitate to try and educate people about it. I always come up short. The more you try to define it, the more
confused kids and adults alike seem to get.
The expressions, the squinty eyes, the “huh?” expression, the “why does
she keep talking but still not make any sense?” looks are ones that are usually
floating around at the end of the discussions.
Honestly, their questions are my questions;
What causes
it?
Does it get
better?
What is it?
The answers I have to these questions are so frustratingly
vague. And flawed. The answers I have, the ones I know, well,
they aren’t universally true. So now,
instead of trying to raise awareness for autism, I get fearful that I could in
fact be mis-informing people. At this
point, I think I’d have a better shot at defining heaven.
Example:
Q: Can you have 2 of the symptoms of autism but not all 3?
A: ummmmmmm yes?
Here’s what I want. I
want all of the typical kids to have empathy for kids and adults that are
differently abled. I want the typical
peers to include the special needs friends and help them thrive. I want kumbaya homies.
But instructing this want, well it feels like trying to
define the ether, or love. I’m sure I
said something so wrong. Because “if you
know one person with autism, you know one person with autism”. Generalizing doesn’t work.
The kids have other questions that come up almost EVERY
time.
Q: Can I catch
autism?
Q: Does it ever
go away?
Q: How is it
cured?
A: ummmmm NO, Not
really and we don’t know?!?!
So, if I negatively impact you, or your loved one on my
crusade to try and help, please know that I am truly sorry. But in my mind, talking about these things,
even if they are confusing and messy, well, isn’t that better than not saying
anything at all?
