Here’s an article from the New York Times.

It’s about Autism and in particular, it highlights both sides of a debate about autism and treatment of autism that I think people at large should be aware of.

Mostly because I think that some of the contortions and training that autistics are required to go through would be unnecessary if more people understood more about them.  Another fantastic resource is Temple Grandin’s book Thinking in pictures  I forget the exact words in the subtitle.  I think they are: And other reports of my life with autism.

Anyway, I think both sides of this debate have a point.  The parents who dream of a better life for their kids and want to give them every tool they can to be all they can be in life are right.  On the other hand, the autistics who say that they shouldn’t have to endure unendurable discomfort bereft of their coping mechanisms and expressive behaviors are right.  Instead of fighting with each other, they should listen and try to come up with a better way…

…and we can all help by being a little more flexible in our thoughts and views, and by being a little more educated.

As an extreme geek, I’ve got some of the same traits as people with autism:  Extreme tactile sensitivity, extreme aversion to unwanted or unexpected touch, fluorescent lights drive me completely bug-fuck (another reason why attending public school was a huge fun-fest), and yes, in extremely intense situations I have been known to rock or perform other compulsive, repetitive motions.  Loud noises, crowds, intense light can be physically painful.  These traits have lessened with age and with practice in focusing and with structuring my environment to minimize sensory overload and unpleasant exposure to certain stimuli.

Also, I wear really loose-fitting, old, worn, 100% cotton clothing whenever I can get away with it, and tend toward tee-shirts and short-sleeved shirts, etc.  It bugs me to have make-up on my face, so I don’t wear it very often.  I tend to want to drown out the world with chosen stimuli rather than be subjected to whatever the world wants to throw at me.  I have the ability to “shut down” and “go away” when too much is going on. 

Learning to fit in and get along, and accepting my inability to completely do so with total comfort has been a difficult thing.  I’m blessed to know many, many people who don’t consider it all that important.  I can’t imagine what it’s like to actually be autistic.  When I read Temple Grandin’s book, read the things she described, I felt for the first time like this was someone who could completely understand what it was like to be me.  The thinking in pictures, the obsessive struggle with language…the not really getting people, or little things like personal boundaries…the feeling of being under constant assault by the world.

Only, Ms. Grandin was describing my experience multiplied….which also made me feel like I had it easy…and so it helped me in two ways.  1) I was able to see that I was not an alien from another planet.  I’m not autistic…but their experience is enough like mine that I feel like I have some kindred here.  2) I realized that I actually had it pretty good, being able to live with one foot in each world, and have a wider experience than most people…even if it sometimes seems more difficult.

So I can understand parents wanting to show their kids their world, and try to make it so that those children can live and work and play in it as they do…because the mundane world is a world worth knowing.  If more of the world can be opened up to these kids then that can be viewed as therapy that expands limitations.

But I can also understand the adult autistic’s point that they actually live in another world too, and trying to make them act as though they don’t…not express the pain and irritation of fluorescent lights, or sunlight on snow…or sudden, unwanted touch…making them learn the meaning of subtle changes in facial expression the way most kids learn flashcards…can be viewed as torture in the name of conformity.

Ultimately, each person must follow their own way.  Nobody can be popped out of a mold the way another wants them to be...and nobody comes into this world and society totally suited to live in it.  Everyone has to be molded to it to some extent.  Each person has an individual balance that must be struck for their health and well-being...and those who are very lucky are surrounded by people who will help them find that balance.