June 18 is Autistic Pride Day and it is celebrated by people
with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome world wide. It is a day for them to
celebrate their ‘neurodiversity’ and for the others to learn about Autism and
develop our understanding towards them.
“Autistic pride is
pride in autism, about shifting views of autism from "disease" to
"difference". Autistic pride emphasizes the innate potential in all
human phenotypic expressions and celebrates the diversity various neurological
types express.” Wikipedia
Our lives revolve around our senses and the responses they
give to the stimuli in the environment. We hear people saying “I need my tea to
be cold”, “The labels on the neck of my dresses irritate me”, “I can’t remember
things unless I see them”, “I can’t eat anything mushy” etc. We ourselves would
have these not so common, little limitations.
At instances our lives become so uncomfortable even when
simple things don’t go the way we want them; There is extra bit of sugar in the
evening tea that you enjoy most after a tiring day of work, or there is a loud
‘papara band’ outside when u have a report deadline tomorrow.
People with Autism Spectrum Disorder fight their way through
life day by day in a world designed for the neuro-typicals. Being
neurologically atypical or one should call them neurologically diverse, Autistic
persons don’t register the sensory inputs the way we do. Eventually their
responses to stimuli also differ. Due to the lack of understanding many of
these responses are labeled as ‘socially improper’, ‘behavioral deviation’ or simply
‘problems’.
An Autistic child starts screaming while waiting in a line
to go to the assembly. Reasons could be, there are a lot of noises around which
come as a sensory over load to the child, hence to drown those noises the child
screams loud; the child is exposed to an unfamiliar situation with a lot of
unfamiliar faces, the child is not simply able to feel ‘at home’; or it could
be another sensory issue we fail to see and the child is not able to explain to
us.
Sensory disorientation is only one dimension of Autism
Spectrum Disorder. Lack of social interaction, very limited communication,
limited ability for abstract thought and in some instances metabolic disorders
are other issues associated with the spectrum.
As some of us believe, not every Autistic child is blessed
to be a savant; not every Adult with Autism is destined to become world famous
like Temple Grandin (a scientist with Autism). These
children and Adults need a lot of support and understanding from the other side
of the world so they can be who they ‘AUT’ to be.
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