Autism Awareness Month

06Apr08

I don’t usually pay any attention to X Month or YZ Day. There are hundreds of variations that roll around reliably every year, with so many new ones, mostly trivial, being invented that nobody could possibly be aware of more than a fraction. But Autism Awareness Month is different for me. The autism spectrum is part of the spectrum of minds, and it’s also part of my life.

I was almost 70 when I discovered that I am very likely on the Asperger’s end of the spectrum. I’ve wrestled mightily with that idea, simply because I’m so close to the edge, with such mild symptoms, that I had to question whether those symptoms were sufficiently indicative. Reading accounts by others has helped a lot, particularly in comparing me as I am now, and the me that had so many problems (mostly unrecognized) in childhood and my earlier adulthood. I can see that, like most people on the spectrum, I’ve learned to work around some of the symptoms that are problems, and ignore others that have more to do with how “normal” people see me than with any real problems. In other words, diagnostically, I’m much less Aspie now than I used to be.

Diagnosis (and self-diagnosis) can be difficult simply because autism is a spectrum disorder, because it has so many symptoms, which can occur in any combination and degree of severity. It’s also made much more difficult by well-meant statements which intend to be informative and merely add to the confusion. A typical one that I came across today is from an article in a UK online newspaper. “People with AS struggle to understand the unwritten social rules that help most of us act and speak appropriately. They find it hard to decipher figures of speech, facial expressions and tones of voice, and are frequently (but unintentionally) concise and literal to the point of rudeness.”

There’s nothing wrong there except for the omission of qualifiers. “Many people with AS struggle to understand the unwritten social rules that help most of us act and speak appropriately. They may find it hard to decipher figures of speech, facial expressions and tones of voice, and are frequently (but unintentionally) concise and literal to the point of rudeness.” Why are the qualifiers important? Because they aid understanding–that not every person with Asperger’s has all these problems. Statements about literal-mindedness–without qualifiers–have led to the idea that anyone on the spectrum has no sense of humor, can’t understand puns or metaphors, etc. And that belief, in turn, leads to the assumption that someone who does enjoy jokes, who can make puns, and create metaphors can’t be on the spectrum. Consider the more subtle but important idea that someone may be literal-minded in one context, but not in another.

Finally, no single Autie or Aspie that you meet is an example of what autism or asperger’s is like. No one is a poster child for the spectrum. No two people have the same symptoms, in the same combination, or to the same degree. No single symptom is typical or “normal.” Autism is not a disease; it’s a set of neurological differences from the norm. Some symptoms may cause suffering, depending on their severity, and on the individual, but people on the spectrum are not sufferers simply because they’re on the spectrum. Blanket statements that autism is a disease, that people on the spectrum are sufferers or victims perpetuate damaging stereotypes that make their lives more difficult and, at the worst, can cost them their freedom or their lives. Many people on the spectrum are speaking out, not just this month, but every month. Some of them look like the stereotypical individual with autism; others look like your neighbor, your co-workers, or even yourself. Read and learn.

Filed under: Autism spectrum   |  
Tags: autism, asperger's, auties, aspies, autistic spectrum, stereotype