I was struck by a story Solomon shared about a girl living with autism named Carly. She typed the following:
"'If I could tell people one thing about autism, it would be that I don't want to be this way but I am. So don't be mad. Be understanding.' Later she wrote, 'It is hard to be autistic because no one understands me. People assume I am dumb because I can't talk or I act different than them.'"
This quote reminded me of a video that went viral recently:
Although these children expressed opposite sentiments about living with autism, it contradicts what some people think about children living with developmental and congnitive disabilities--that they're aware that they are somehow different. With autism specifically, there is a wide range, and it is thus difficult to know what individuals living with autism are thinking or what perceptions they are aware of. However, both of these children who have the ability to express what they are thinking did share one call to action that is the same: Be understanding. What they are aware of is that they are different, but that it is something that they are living with and cannot change, and we as the neurotypical population need to be understanding and accept them as they are, much as many of the families in Solomon's book did, and how the classmates in the video did.
#challenge #professionaldevelopment #reading #bookreview #autism #understanding #difference #tolerance #perceptions #expression
Solomon, A. (2012). Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity. New York: Scribner Classics.
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