This last week has taught me a  very valuable lesson about how the some of the world views autism. Fortunately for me, the majority of the population doesn’t really have any knowledge or understanding of autism and most people also don’t know that I have Asperger’s Syndrome – a form of higher functioning autism.  .

Unfortunately, my friends are aware, and they  have some very bizarre opinions on the subject. One has the attitude of “you can’t be autistic – you seem so normal”, which I know can upset some ASD people. But I’m kinda ok with that as it just means that I’ve somehow managed to learn how to fit in with people and engage with them socially. My other freindeer has taken a different approach and has begun teaming up with another “friend”. They have taken the “Rain Man” approach, thinking that all of us are the same as one character played by an actor in a film. Repeated jokes about dropping lots of items and being able to count them in seconds and I have a nice new shiny nickname of Raymond to boot. I can’t really say it bothers me that much, as I can see where they have got the idea from. They are both the kind of people that see someone like me, who is somewhat clever with a really good memory recall on lots of subjects and a love of science and comic books, and are possibly envious of how I see the world. After seeing both these different approaches, it made me think, how would they feel if the shoe was on the other foot? “It’s ok some of my best friends are Neruotypical” “You don’t seem Neurotypical” “NT is my second language”, etc.  I think they would soon get upset with it and ask for it to stop. Why don’t I give them a taste of their own medicine and hope that they get the message and stop it? Because I really don’t think it’s the right way to go about things and to be honest I’m better than that. I guess I feel sorry for them – they must have nothing going in their own lives, so they have to do this.

In short, with all that’s going on in the world, why don’t we all take some time out of our week and get to know an NT and try to help them to understand autism?  It’s not their fault they’re like it. Make some time for NT Awareness lol.

Stay Safe X