This is Autism... - Autism Hwy

…A return to authenticity. A smart window into brain and body awareness many have ignored. A multi dimensional view of thinking abilities. Love and light. A realistic chance for humanity to heal itself. My son Wyatt. All of this… and much more.

WE are each other’s touchstone.

Autism has been called many things by many people with very low information. Perhaps this is why it has always been associated with puzzles. People have literally been making the script up, of what AUTISM is as they go. What a sad legacy for our children to know that only certain Autistic adults are (barely) listened to while defining this different not less “way of being” to the world. In the past Autistic children have not been allowed Autistic role models to look up to. Too many organizations have been slamming Autism and tearing it’s image down. Telling everyone how it is an unhealthy epidemic. Beating us over the head with how HARD and TERRIBLE a life with it is and will always be. Making people believe the worst and sometime the absurd about what our lives look like. Feel like. ARE.

Amping up the volume of doom and gloom and dialing it in daily. Using language to program fear, dread and bigotry. No wonder so many folks have cringed in fear at Wyatt’s differences. Reprehensible and sad ways to gain donations and sympathy. In 2013…almost 2014 Autism Speaks Co-Founder ( grandmother to an Autistic ) Suzanne Wright just had to remind us of this awful business practice in her “call for action” op-ed piece on the eve of her organization “storming” Washington D.C. to make a National Plan for Autism?…Yet again, without the voices of reason…the Autistic adults themselves…??????

Presumptuous, scary and predictable… Autism Speaks trying to bulldoze the Autism agenda without consulting Autistics. Driving their mission forward without the correct fuel. Shall we waste another 50 years researching and guessing from the outside track? Shall we keep taking the long way around? Shouldn’t we try the inside track to reach results sooner? HOW will we ever learn about the tribe without it’s elders? Simply stated, we won’t. It is time we stop allowing society to be beat over the head with horrific false rhetoric blasting the Autism siren business as usual. Professionals and families must stop avoiding the obvious and tap into our own best resource…our culture and our history, our people. Autistic people have deep roots and history in the world no matter how many researcher’s, cure seekers and behavior-“ists” want to demand they do not. People that have calm, natural, comfortable ways to maneuver all that this diverse spectrum entails. This is Autism. The very people that feel Autism from “the inside out” like Leonora Gregory Collura and her organization ANCA Naturally Autistic or people perceiving life “from the bottom up” as Dr. Temple Grandin likes to say. The best information about something you seek to understand will always be gleaned from the source itself. The many brilliantly faceted sources of brain and perception difference. Our highly valued friends, colleagues and family. AUTISTIC PEOPLE.

This is the future of Autism.

Whichever direction National Plans will take, they should only move forward with full collaboration of Autistic people! A great place for organizations and people seeking Autism information is: The Autistic Self Advocacy Network. No more walking backwards with suppositions and/or false beliefs put forth by neurotypicals driving Autism policy in the dark. Above all we must strive to understand the separation or connection of Autism, and the physically debilitating and limiting medical conditions we sometimes see. Beyond that change the messages to those of useful daily LIVING advice. Help society accept and accommodate these differences. There is much understanding to be gained and work to be done with the help of the most focused and pragmatic thinkers on the planet! I predict Autism will become much more reasonably managed when we follow Autistic adults knowledge, advise and lead. They know how they feel and they know what best works when it comes to Autism. It is time to listen…and people are listening to Autistic Voices!