One thing I’ve learned about autism over the years is that everyone has a different opinion about it and everyone is entitled to their own personal view and stance. We all know Autism is a SPECTRUM, meaning it has many different facets, angles, and shades. If you have met ONE person with autism then you have met ONE person with autism. Autistic people are no different when it comes to individuality. People, in general, are like snowflakes, no two exactly the same. Your journey may not be my journey. Your child’s journey may not be my child’s journey. Your truth may not be my truth.
This is okay.
For some odd reason though, this little tidbit has been missed by a BIG majority of the autism community that I have come into contact with. In the end, and in the grand scheme of things, I don’t really blame these people for the way this all works though, I blame the DSM. In my opinion, we (the autism community) could all really benefit from the spectrum being broken down into smaller pieces so that the different types of autism that exist can be better explained and understood by everyone.
We have to stop being judgemental of other autism families.
You can’t run around preaching acceptance and love if you are being un-accepting of someone else’s view.
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Just some thoughts of mine on this chilly Wednesday afternoon.