Friday, July 6, 2012

What Autistic Looks Like : The Worstest Mommy

Reposted with permission from the author.  Original post at http://theworstestmommy.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-autistic-looks-like.html.

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What Autistic Looks Like by The Worstest Mommy


Recently, rapper 50 Cent tweeted some rude messages about "special ed" and "autistic" kids. In response, many mom bloggers including those who have children that are autistic have been responding in mass. Even Holly Robinson Peete posted a letter in response, as she also has a 13 year old son who is autistic. She spoke clearly and succinct about how comments like his affect families with autistic children and concluded her letter with a picture of her son...this is what autism looks like.

My middle son, Ethan, will be 11 tomorrow. He has autism and this is what it looks like...
 Autism can be quiet and introspective...sometimes it is non-verbal..
 Autism can have a mind of it's own...independent of other disorders, yet completely intertwined.
 Autism can bring peace...showing a mom, dad, and family, what the important things in life are.
 Autism can be up for adventures, as long as it's on it's own terms.
 Autism can be fun and playful, recreating movie scenes over and over...even if just for it's own entertainment.
 Autism can be strong and powerful...not to be feared, but to be understood.
 Kids, like my son with autism, can be bright, intelligent kids that love to do what every other child likes to do. Their brain just has a different way of figuring things out.
 Kids with autism can often have a hard time getting along with other kids. Sometimes, they have no trouble...and can even find their own childhood crushes and feel love for someone else.
These kids, like my son, are not freaks...they are not kids to make fun of. As parents we will do anything we have to do for our kids, go to any lengths...most of the time, at the expense of our own personal time, money, and mental health. Our kids are our everything...and not even some celebrity rapper from Detroit can change that. You have messed with the wrong group of parents, this time!

2 comments:

  1. ASD plays a big role in my life- I teach kids and adults on the spectrum art, I also have a grandson with autism. Its seems nit picky- but I dont like hearing 'my child/friend/relative etc IS autistic!!' They are people who have autism! They are not branded by their disabilty. We would not say a person with any other affliction is 'cancer' or is 'whatever' -they are first a child/adult/brother/sister/person with autism. As this condition spreads like wild fire through the world, not fussy who it chooses as its host, let us all be more caring, compassionate, loving and patient to learn more about ASD and what we can do to help one another.

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  2. Perfectly different, differently perfect :)

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