I’m on the Autism Spectrum. Bullying, discrimination, and non-acceptance is a way of life.
Our lives matter too.
A highlight of my life was getting invited to be a guest speaker at the United Nations Headquarters for World Autism Awareness Day 2017. I can still remember walking into that huge amphitheater room and seeing my name placard lit up at my seat. It was overwhelming to say the least. There were thousands in the room, and the event was going to be live streamed around the world to 92 countries.
I was selected to speak because I have a career, and I’m married. What? Like big deal, you’re thinking. Millions of people have a career and are married. Yeah, that’s true. Except they are not on the autism spectrum. To be an independent person, with a successful career, and be married is no small fete when you’re on the autism spectrum.
One thing I think people forget is that those cute little kids with autism will grow up to become autistic adults. Imagine that. The vast majority of autism research funding goes into studies surrounding autistic children. For a long time, if there was research about adults on the spectrum, it was conducted solely by non-autistic individuals, without having at least one autistic person as an advisor or consultant. Well how Freakin’ crazy is that? Fortunately, that has changed over recent years.
I am deeply saddened, shocked, and outraged like the rest of the world at the murder of George Floyd, and other blacks killed by law enforcement. Yes, without a doubt, racism MUST stop. Once and for all. But in the quest for equality, let us use this opportunity to seek equality for everyone.
A few years ago, someone asked me, “just how long are you going to drag out this Asperger’s thing?” There is no difference in that question than had he said to a black person, “just how long are you going to drag out this black thing?”
Each human being is born into this world without getting to make any requests for how we want to be. It’s not like placing an order on Amazon where you pick out exactly what you want. No, us humans are more the ‘potluck,’ you simply get whatever shows up. None of us can help how we are born, or to whom. It just happens. Where, then, I ask, did it ever all start that some people feel they are superior to others? Why do some people bully, harass, discriminate, even kill those they see as lesser than themselves, for reasons that individual had no choice in the matter? Whether it is the color of their skin, or whether they have autism.
I’m on the autism spectrum, and I have experienced some of the same things as those who are black. No, autistic people are not getting killed by cops. But many autistic individuals commit suicide from loneliness, isolation, discrimination, and non-acceptance in this world. The end result is the same. It is unacceptable on all accounts.
I am talking about discrimination and non-acceptance. Individuals on the autism spectrum are different and society typically doesn’t allow us to fit in. That’s the ticket to those who chose to exclude us from everyday life. Many people have a negative attitude or stereotyped beliefs of those on the autism spectrum.
A common occurrence is experiencing bullying and discrimination in the workplace. This is quite common for those on the autism spectrum who are employed. The latest global statistics show that 85% of autistic adults are unemployed or underemployed. This is a very complex topic, one I shall address in a separate article.
Autistic individuals experience the world very differently than non-autistic people. This is due to a combination of factors. Sensory intake of sound, touch, taste, visual, smell is often highly acute and overwhelming, and may even vary depending on different times throughout the day. There is also the cognitive factor, of how we process information and subsequently respond to it. We take things very literally, and typically have extreme difficulty understanding facial expressions and body language.
Most non-autistic people don’t understand how we experience the world, and thus are not prepared for interacting with us, or working with us.
Some years ago, a friend’s young autistic son was suffering with depression. He was around ten at the time. No kids at school wanted anything to do with him, typical for anyone on the autism spectrum. One day he asked her point blank, “Mommy, is anyone ever going to want to be my friend? If not, I just want to be dead.” Wow. Ten years old. Pretty heavy stuff, and incredibly sad.
Acceptance of neurodiversity in our society is just as important as acceptance of race, religion, culture, sex.
Autistic people are not fully accepted into society. Many try to hide behind a mask to “conceal” their autistic traits from others. That is not only exhausting, it is impacting their mental health. Why should anyone have to hide your true self? It doesn’t work anyway, as others can sense you are different even if you try to hide it.
Why can’t people realize we are one human race on this planet. Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary General won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. In the quest for a more peaceful world, he revitalized the UN to give priority to human rights. He believed “we are all human and need to stand together despite religious, cultural, or racial differences.”
Our society must not accept the marginalization of any human being, for any reason. There are no excuses. It is 2020. It cannot and must not accept discrimination nor marginalization of anyone. Each one of us is a human being. The time has come to step up to the plate and embrace your fellow humans. Let’s stop the hate, the discrimination, the marginalization.
Nelson Mandela’s words are so very true. We must begin to follow his words now, as well as those of Kofi Annan. This world is in peril. It cannot take much more. Just think of how great this world could be if everyone did just that.
Let’s all take the high road, put aside each other’s differences, and embrace each other as a fellow human being.