To the Non-Autistic World
If there's one thing I could tell the non-autistic world and have them take to heart, it would be this:
Don't pity us.
We're just as capable of happiness, though it might take different forms.
We have emotions, though sometimes we don't express them properly.
We can love and hate and everything in between--even if we don't show it.
We communicate--even the most low-functioning of us. We just do it differently.
Autism doesn't cover up who we are. It's part of who we are.
We can do most things NTs can do; we can even do some things NTs can't do.
Autism doesn't keep us from being useful members of society.
We may not naturally know how to do some things, but we can learn what we don't know.
Autism isn't some sort of horrible cancer. It doesn't make us unhappy.
We'd still have problems if we were completely non-autistic. They'd just be different problems.
We take joy in knowing that someone loves us.
Autism isn't something that steals a person away--we're still there, just not communicating efficiently.
We enjoy learning, doing, creating, and interacting with the world, just like anyone.
We have hobbies that give us great enjoyment.
We miss out on a lot of those problems that come with being ultra-social.
We have a style of our own, a way of thinking and interacting that can benefit the mostly-NT world.
We're not tragedies or statistics--we're human beings.
All in all, being autistic isn't all that bad. It's just a different way of being--not any worse.
So don't pity us.
Don't pity us.
We're just as capable of happiness, though it might take different forms.
We have emotions, though sometimes we don't express them properly.
We can love and hate and everything in between--even if we don't show it.
We communicate--even the most low-functioning of us. We just do it differently.
Autism doesn't cover up who we are. It's part of who we are.
We can do most things NTs can do; we can even do some things NTs can't do.
Autism doesn't keep us from being useful members of society.
We may not naturally know how to do some things, but we can learn what we don't know.
Autism isn't some sort of horrible cancer. It doesn't make us unhappy.
We'd still have problems if we were completely non-autistic. They'd just be different problems.
We take joy in knowing that someone loves us.
Autism isn't something that steals a person away--we're still there, just not communicating efficiently.
We enjoy learning, doing, creating, and interacting with the world, just like anyone.
We have hobbies that give us great enjoyment.
We miss out on a lot of those problems that come with being ultra-social.
We have a style of our own, a way of thinking and interacting that can benefit the mostly-NT world.
We're not tragedies or statistics--we're human beings.
All in all, being autistic isn't all that bad. It's just a different way of being--not any worse.
So don't pity us.