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- #31
It is interesting to me how many people here are mentioning outward appearance of so-called normalcy as a determining factor for how a person is treated. This is something I come across a lot. I've read that there is a stigma attached to autism--that it can be harmful to let some people know that I have autism because they may think of me as a lesser person. However, I continue right on divulging this information in hopes that people will understand me and know that perhaps what I say or do may not be prescribed the intentions they think or that I may seem aloof, stuck up, rude, cold, etc., but that it is not my intention--that people have to be literal and straight forward to a fault or I get confused, etc.
My friend is considered severely affected by autism, yet we talk via internet all the time and his intellectual self is no different from anyone else (except, of course, he is a unique individual) yet to people on the outside his stimming and other behaviors may cause people to treat him as sub-human, etc. This is the opposite end--where outward appearance causes discrimination.
We are pretty similar on the inside, though there are areas where he is affected differently, such as he has broken sensory input to a degree that I can imagine, but that does not affect me as deeply. For example, I can make eye contact and appear very focused on a person, but this inhibits my ability to hear what they are saying. My friend experiences lapses in sensory input where his auditory input cuts out or he can only see vivid colors or particular details and not hear at the same time. I, on the other hand, miss some of the so-called important things and see the strange details like I might notice the wormhole ceiling tiles in a crowded room or focus on something else like a branch that looks like a stick bug. Meanwhile someone may be trying to get my attention and I just flatten myself against the wall and they may think I am avoiding them.
I think it can be dangerous for a person if they appear so-called "normal" on the outside, but have autism, because there are times when they can have meltdowns or panic or act in a peculiar way and people like police officers do not always understand this. I was always afraid my son would get beat up because he would say things to other boys, ignorant of the danger he was placing himself in. In retrospect, I've often done the same thing. I feel terrified at the idea that someone will "touch" me in a rude way, like shove me or something, because I don't know how I might react.
My friend is considered severely affected by autism, yet we talk via internet all the time and his intellectual self is no different from anyone else (except, of course, he is a unique individual) yet to people on the outside his stimming and other behaviors may cause people to treat him as sub-human, etc. This is the opposite end--where outward appearance causes discrimination.
We are pretty similar on the inside, though there are areas where he is affected differently, such as he has broken sensory input to a degree that I can imagine, but that does not affect me as deeply. For example, I can make eye contact and appear very focused on a person, but this inhibits my ability to hear what they are saying. My friend experiences lapses in sensory input where his auditory input cuts out or he can only see vivid colors or particular details and not hear at the same time. I, on the other hand, miss some of the so-called important things and see the strange details like I might notice the wormhole ceiling tiles in a crowded room or focus on something else like a branch that looks like a stick bug. Meanwhile someone may be trying to get my attention and I just flatten myself against the wall and they may think I am avoiding them.
I think it can be dangerous for a person if they appear so-called "normal" on the outside, but have autism, because there are times when they can have meltdowns or panic or act in a peculiar way and people like police officers do not always understand this. I was always afraid my son would get beat up because he would say things to other boys, ignorant of the danger he was placing himself in. In retrospect, I've often done the same thing. I feel terrified at the idea that someone will "touch" me in a rude way, like shove me or something, because I don't know how I might react.
