Today, I want to share with you six things that you should know about autism.
Number one: anyone can have autism. All ages, races, genders, socio-economic
statuses - all of these groups have autistic people in them. Every country
does as well. Autism isn't just for white boys, even though that is a typical
stereotype. Diagnostic biases and other factors have led to the stereotype. It is
common to see autism underreported in different groups, whether that's because
of bias or stigma or just a lack of information. Having autism does not
automatically speak to the intellectual level of an individual. According to the
CDC, 31% of autistic children with an available IQ score were considered
intellectually disabled and 44% were considered to have average or
above-average intelligence. Now, while having an intellectual
disability doesn't make anyone less, do understand that IQ tests do have
quite the history of not necessarily accurately representing someone's
intelligence. It has a bit of history in eugenics and ableism and some
unfortunate things. There are some studies that suggest that if you are
incentivized to do better on an IQ test, you will, and if you're not, you might not
do as well. So, there are a lot of factors that go into IQ tests as well as the
type of test, especially when someone is nonverbal or isn't very good at engaging
to communicate. So, there are a lot of factors that come into this, but it is
still not a bad thing or make anyone less to have an intellectual disability.
No matter the IQ of someone, on the spectrum or not, we are all worthy of
life, love, compassion, and respect. Although intellectual disability can and
does co-occur with autism, someone being autistic doesn't automatically
make them intellectually disabled or gifted. Autism is not behaviors.
One of the most pushed and controversial therapies for autism, applied behavior
analysis, really feeds into this idea. Because
autism is currently diagnosed off of observable behaviors, some people equate
autism to the observable behaviors, but these are actually signs or indicators
of autism. The behaviors themselves are not autism. Autism causes a different way
of your brain connecting. The different connections, the way it develops, it folds
and unfolds, a whole lot of different things and some things we don't
understand yet, but it's all due to the brain. It doesn't mean not flapping your
hands or stopping a certain typical autistic behavior just makes someone not
autistic. A lot of autistic people learn how to more discretely stim or hide
their stims. They might be okay at eye contact and hold their own in a social situation
for the most part and they can seem like, oh, they're not autistic, but they're
still autistic. They're just not showing you the behaviors that you assume means
autism. Autism is not inherently bad. Autism does typically co-occur with
other disabilities and disorders and mental health issues and this leads
people to think that autism is inherently bad, but there are upsides to
autism that people who can't fathom other people working or living life or
perceiving the world differently than them can seem to understand or
appreciate. Autism often leads people to be perseverant, loyal, trusting, and
logical. Autistic people are able to find beauty and wonder in things that people
might find boring, repetitive, or just average, everyday things and even
annoying things. Of course, this can also be flipped, where autistic people might
find everyday, normal things annoying. Difference doesn't automatically mean
bad or wrong or less than. Different allows for innovation and compassion.
Difference requires us to step beyond our selfish world and see that this
abstract idea of perfection or normal doesn't
really exist, humanity does. Autism is a huge spectrum. It is not linear from, like,
not very autistic, mildly autistic, to super duper autistic. It doesn't really
work that way. It's a mixture and varying degrees of deficits and surpluses in
different areas. I want to take a moment to acknowledge something that not a lot
of neurodiversity advocates may stop to acknowledge in their efforts to combat
the tragedy narrative that is often pushed during this month. There are
autistic people who are profoundly disabled and have intense trouble
with the connections between their brain and their body. They have intellectual
disabilities and don't appear to understand things that other, maybe
typically-developing, people might at their age. There are autistic people who
work very, very hard to accomplish what other people consider simple. Autistic
people, no matter where on the spectrum, no matter how disabling or enabling they
find autism to be for them, are worthy of life. These autistic people may never be
some inspirational story. They may always live with caretakers or in institutions,
but they are not a tragedy. It is difficult and painful, but they are
worthy of respect and love. They are my brothers and sisters on the spectrum
just as much as the well-written and well-spoken advocates who may be
speaking up during this time. They and their families matter. They need support
and compassion and for laws and funds to be made available in efforts to help
protect them and keep care of them. And that's not to say that someone who can
speak or isn't as high needs is just fine. We all have our struggles and our
strengths on this massive spectrum, but please don't forget, overlook, or dismiss
any of us. And number six, the concept of a cure is controversial. Many people see
autism as something bad or tragic or expensive. Some presume that autism has
taken us away into the darkness. Many of us beg to differ. Though we do have our
struggles and our difficulties, we often find ways to make autism a strength, and
even if we don't find some magical autistic superpower, it's part of who we
are. It's a large part of our being. It's how our brain works. It's how ... we think
and we perceive. It is integral to our being. A lot of people say that a cure
would make us into different people, that it would be comparable to a lobotomy,
that we wouldn't be ourselves. Others are willing to be open to it as long as it
took the negatives of being autistic away. Some autistic people are open to
whatever a cure would be and many advocate vehemently against it. So, this
is my personal take on it. Should there be a cure that wouldn't change who we
are, that would be the choice of the individual, that would help people not
struggle as much, I would be happy to see that happen for those who want it. I
don't think that our personal decision to not want one should stop people who
do want one from having access to one. However, it should never be a requirement
and it shouldn't be something, basically, to make sure we're never born, which is
kind of an issue that's been going on for pre-screening pregnancies.
That's eugenics and has caused millions of people to die in horrible ways, so
let's not do that, guys. Regardless, our main focus should be on helping families
and autistic people and supporting them and helping them thrive as they are.
Thank you for watching these six things that you should know about autism during
World Autism Awareness Month. Hopefully you enjoyed it. If you did, go ahead and
drop a like. If you're interested in learning more about autism from the
perspective of an autistic adult, me, you can go ahead and hit that subscribe
button, and I'll see you in my next video. Bye!