I asked this question on Facebook this afternoon and had a really interesting response. I thought I would ask it here as well because there are many more people that read this site, than do my Facebook page.
Here’s my question.
Are you finding that either yourself, as an Autistic adult or parent to an Autistic child, still being judged or ridiculed by society?
Do you find that people are more accepting and understanding than before?
Essentially, this will give us an idea of what to focus on when trying to educate the public. I’m likely to start working with the Autism Society in Ohio and this could help me to better understand what you and your family is experiencing.
Personally, I’m finding that it’s kind of a mixed bag.
It seems that some people are very accepting or are at least keeping their comments to themselves. On the other hand, I run into people in real life and on this site that have no tolerance for anyone that breaks the mold of what they consider to be normal.
Kids are just as cruel as ever and yet at the same time, I’ve been really amazed at how kind some of them can be.
Personally, I feel that we need to show the public just how different each person on the Autism Spectrum can be. I also believe that we need to pay more attention to the Autistic adults because if anyone knows what your child is going through, it’s them. They can be an amazing source of information and knowledge if we only we would use our listening ears.
Of course we need to focus on employment opportunities for our children as they enter adulthood as well as those already there.
I’ve not hidden my disapproval and disappointment in the current methods of raising awareness. Autism has become a business and in a lot of cases, money goes into these organizations but then never comes out.
That makes me sad and honestly…..angry.
I really want to try and focus on the things that are most pressing in your life or the life of a loved one with Autism and their family.
Please take a second and share your experience and personal opinions below. Share this with your friends and help me to get a better idea of what needs to be done.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions. I feel like we need better awareness or at least more effective awareness.
Sometimes I think it works. I’ve found it all has to do with the person your making aware. If they don’t have an open mind. It’s pointless. ~ Patty
Not after seeing this. http://www.opposingviews.com/i/health/autism/oregon-state-police-use-taser-naked-autistic-11-year-old-girl-video
There’s definitely a need for increased awareness of autism.
Unless someone has been affected by it, there is usually a narrow, very
stereotypical perception of what autism is. Many people don’t understand the
complexities of the disorder, nor do they realize that children afflicted with
it might display different symptoms that manifest in varying degrees of
severity.
A few months ago I took my son with me to go shopping and he
threw one hell of a tantrum in the store. The store clerks were all trying to
console him, but he wasn’t paying them any attention whatsoever. They seemed
rather impatient with his lack of attention, and when I tried to explain that
he has autism, one of the clerks started talking to him in very long, stressed
out, overly enunciated words. It was an overly dramatic attempt to gain his
attention and try to get him to understand what she was saying. Basically—and I
hate to use this term—she was speaking to him like she thought he was mentally
retarded. She wasn’t mean or anything like that, but her actions were insulting
nonetheless. My son is not dumb. I know there is a lot of stuff going on in
that brain of his; it’s just that he doesn’t process information the way people
normally do and he’s not as engaged as people would expect him to be. The idea
that autism is a disease of intellect is offensive to me.
On the flip side, there are people who have been exposed to
autism and therefore are more accepting. However, once in a while, these people
will hold the view that knowing one person with autism is knowing all people
with autism. False. All kids are different. Some talk. Some don’t. Some struggle
with motor skills, while others not so much. Some kids are more sociable than
others. The list goes on. There are several ASD kids in my family, and although
they may share several characteristics, each has their own set of challenges
and triggers that are unique to them.
I really feel it has a lot to do where you live as too how much tolerance you receive. We personally live in a small town in the south. Can you imagine how much we get? I have almost got into fist fights. I have had grown mem take their belts off in the parking lot of a dollar store and hand it to me and tell my child if I don’t use they are going to. I have had walmart tellers scream at my child to shut up cause they heard him the first time. We went to watch a movie and a man in behind us looked at my son and told him he was the worst behaved child he had ever seen and he shouldn’t go out in public. The most recent example of a fellow human kind was a man from oh traveling through on vacation…he stood screaming at my child because he accused him of bumping his van door while getting out of the car. What was so obvious about the situation was he had old damage where he was saying he hit. He just keep screaming and getting in both of our faces while my 8 yr can only scream “I sorry, not hit door” over and over again. I would have kindly taken care of the problem but he was just looking to take advantage of us, it got to the point the law was called, they sided with us. The sad part was he had 2 young children in his care that watched the whole scene. I feel all the bullying and rude remarks and dictiminations comes from our parents and their behavior. We have to take all the adults and shake them as hard as we can and say ” they are just kids…what the he’ll are you thinking” that the only way to help our children and stop the cycle. We have awareness groups in our area and you are exactly right the money that I have busted my butt to help raise for them the last 4 years (totaling about 25,000) is just sitting there and nothing is being done to help the community. It is really sad.
I was just [very] recently diagnosed with Aspergers (or HF Autism), so I haven’t had a lot of reactions to it. It’s been a mixed bag in my dept. at work, but most people don’t know I have Aspergers. I grew up being viewed as weird & strange though because I was different from others. I want to bring a positive view to Autism Awareness though.