Discomfort

Autism was never something that I would have thought about and felt a sense of passion. It was never an issue that I felt so strongly about that I wanted to make a change. Like most of us, I had preconceived ideas about what autistic children looked like an acted like. I remember meeting an adult with autism and actually feeling discomfort; it was as if he was not even human. It’s sad that as a society we feel uncomfortable when faced with differences. It wasn't until after becoming a behavior specialist that these stereotypical views broke down.

I was recently talking to a close friend of mine who said “He doesn’t look autistic,” when shown a picture of a little boy I work with. I had to stop and think for a moment about what she meant by this. She then admitted to confusing autism with Down syndrome. It is in moments like this when I feel that passion to help people like my friend recognize the issues surrounding autism. When I am faced with people like this, I want to show them that there is no “typical” autistic child. All children with autism are affected in different ways, and while there are certain behaviors that characterize autism, there is no specific physical attributes making it obvious that a child has autism.