Happy, Getting Healthy and Fine Just the Way They Are

Blog about it and changes will occur. That's how it seems anyway. J slept through the night and I'm seeing improvements today. He's not quite as congested as he was. He's able to blow his nose now. His fever had been below 100 all day so far which is a good sign. But I think the biggest thing is that he put on a show for me this afternoon.

J loves to takes pictures of the Neopets he draws and put on shows for Y and I. The shows range from short to long and simple to complex. He does some planning but most of these shows are done right off the top of his head. He does about one a week. He did a real short one today so I know he's beginning to feel better.

The big downfall here is that now I have his cold. The tables have turned too. J may still be sick but now he's making sure I'm taking medicine and am warm enough. From watching me make him hot cocoa all week he remembered it and made me a cup! He was so proud of himself and i was proud of him too. (Too bad I don't like hot cocoa but I won't tell him that.)

Anybody who says autistics don't have a soul or are being held hostage by their disability truly haven't looked hard and close enough to see just how capable these individuals are or can be. My son is an example of an autistic ten year old boy who is learning how to live in a world he's not wired for. He works hard every day and has never once let his autism define who he is or what he can or can't do. If anything he lets his autism push himself past whatever boundaries or limits he may have to be the best person he can be. He has goals and dreams for his future. He wants to be a zookeeper and own his own zoo. I know he'll achieve that someday and damn it all if some organization ever tries to tell him or convince him otherwise.

I've heard all about the ad campaign by the NYU Child Study Center. It's disgusting, degrading, dehumanizing, one of the worst things I've ever seen. I read on one blog how the Center says "the strong response to this campaign is evidence that our approach is working." My question is working for or towards what? A society that continues to see autism as this debilitating disability, continues to cater to the stereotypes that are so hurtful to autistics and those who love, accept and support them? This ad campaign does nothing to help autistics in any way. All it does is reinforce the negative attitude that has been placed on autism, and all the other disabilities the Center is targeting.

Y has ADHD and she was so offended and insulted when she saw the ads. She became so angry that she sat in her room on her bed and cried.

"There's nothing wrong with us!" She yelled. "We're fine the way we are!"

Y then asked me "Why do people hate autistics so much?"

I honestly couldn't give her an answer. It was a question I've thought about too.

The answer I can give her now is that when confronted with something people knows little about the first reaction it seems is to be afraid of it. With that fear comes the need to degrade it, dehumanize it if necessary, something to look down the nose at with disdain and stomp out under their foot. It's also because there's a level of discomfort that people just can't seem to handle. So to demean autism to the point of hatred is to make these people who fear autism feel comfortable again. That's what it comes down to. Making the fearful and ignorant feel comfortable, but at the expense of the humanity of autistics. Little do the people who behave in such manners or say words that offend autistics realize this, or they just don't care.


Like my son says

I wish more people would listen to these voices instead of those who do more harm than good.