Is autism a disorder?
January 24, 2009
One might notice that I do not use certain terminology when referring to autism. The autism spectrum is so vast that one form of autism is not necessarily like another. I firmly believe that there is nothing wrong with my son. He doesn’t have a disorder. He does not need to be cured. In fact, I think he is in some ways fortunate to have the brain he has. His brain has a capacity to think and work in ways that mine never will. He is so much more interesting a person than I’ll ever be. And, he has so much more potential for greatness. But, I recognize that not every parent can say the same for their kids with autism. I know what all sides of the spectrum look like - we have several children in the family with autism and they are all very different. Most people with aspergers, however, think there is something wrong with all of us NT people. And quite frankly, sometimes I’d have to agree with them.
But the spectrum and how we choose to define it seems to cause a lot of division within the autism community. It also creates a lot of confusion among the general public about what autism is. I predict some day soon, our understanding of the autism spectrum will become more clear and well defined and we will all be more willing to accept the differences.
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