This Just In… Light It Up Blue
Thanks for tuning in! This week’s post is all about autism and every bullet is by an Autistic person in honor of Autism Awareness Day. It features: Fall Down 7 Times Stand Up 8 by Naoki Higashida (book), Assume Good Intentions by E (blog), How Autism Freed Me to be Myself by Rosie King (ted talk) & more. Enjoy…
Last week, I gave an introduction to this post. Before we get into this one though, I just want to say again that this is a very meaningful post for me. It has become my tradition to publish something about autism on Autism Awareness Day. I have been doing it for quite some time and it was the first time somebody really complimented my writing and told me they liked my ideas. After these posts had some minor success I began flirting with the idea of starting a blog but it didn’t happen. Not until this past October when I released my first Just Project post in honor of my brother Jake, for his birthday. Any work of mine that you have enjoyed may not have been possible without having an autistic person in my life. Jake has helped me shape my ideas and I am eternally grateful for how much he has helped me grow. I can only hope to pass on the wisdom and insight he and everyone else featured in this post has helped me gain with you. Lastly, I want to say we can’t change the fact that autism exists but we can change our attitude towards it and that can make all of the difference.
Book: Fall Down 7 Times Stand Up 8 by Naoki Higashida (240 pgs)
This book is one of a follow up to The Reason I Jump, the first book I ever wrote about, and it’s a little bit more diverse. Covering more topics and is more encompassing than its predecessor.
The reason I jump was a book by an autistic boy that happened to be a writer, this book is more of the opposite. It’s articulated much better and it’s not entirely question and answer based, it’s more like journal entries.
Autism comes in many shapes and sizes so the ideas in these books won’t be universally beneficially/applicable. However, both this book and the previous helped me better understand my brother and his actions. Evidently, we get a lot wrong when it comes to autism; understanding is the first step to a better existence for autistic people.
Some major misconceptions surrounding autism include people with autism are famously presumed to be lacking empathy and emotional intelligence but from first-hand experience, I can tell you that’s not entirely true. We also generally mistake communicative non-functionality with cognitive non-functionality. If you don’t believe me, read either of Naoki’s books and see for yourself. Get ready for a paradigm shift that may be more aligned with a truer understanding of autism.
Blog Post: Assume Good Intentions by E (2 mins)
Assume good intentions and give the benefit of the doubt. That is the message behind this post. It’s unfortunate but it happens that autistic people are picked on. Like I have stated before I think this is all due to a lack of understanding. I truly believe that ignorance breeds intolerance. If you feel comfortable, start a conversation about autism. Share a meaningful story you have involving someone you know with autism. Share a video you found on youtube. Wear blue. Do something, anything to keep the dialog flowing. April is a month of education about autism and I am happy to be apart of it. Will you be?
Ted Talk: How Autism Freed Me to be Myself by Rosie King (6 mins 09 secs)
This question has bothered me for quite some time. I remember being a kid and thinking normal is merely an illusion. That it is a social construct to get people to behave in a certain matter that is deemed appropriate. That normal is a facade that people show when they are out in public. While often times it is necessary to embody or take on “normal” characteristics, I think this can be very limiting. This is what I like to call the general definition of normal.
I first started thinking about this when I noticed Jake, my autistic brother, wasn’t really “normal.” I saw that he couldn’t, and still can’t, shift his behavior to be anything other than true to himself. If he want’s to scream in public he screams, If he wants to jump he jumps, if he wants to sing he sings, If he wants to hit himself he hits himself. Occasionally, he does actions like these that aren’t socially appropriate (read: normal) and typically outcast him. When this happens he might not be conforming to the stereotypical norm, but it is nothing out of the ordinary for him.
This led me to believe that there is a no such thing as a true normal. I believe that normal, like autism, is a spectrum that has varying degrees with no true center. What I consider normal, what you consider normal, and what other individuals from different cultures/generations/etc. consider normal will be drastically different. For instance, wearing dress shoes on the beach or sandals at the office is not normal. Going out to bars is normal in college and playing on the sandpit is normal in kindergarten but if a kindergartener was at a bar or a college student was in a sandpit this we would all think this is strange.
Because of this, I like to classify normal as something that is not fixed to a societal standard but something that is more aligned with the definition of genuine, not the definition of conformity. By this definition, someone is being normal when they are behaving in a manner that is aligned with their true self. By framing it this way, it’s clear that normal varies from person to person. By this definition, normal doesn’t hold us back and force us to be something we are not. By this definition, we are liberated by our uniqueness and thrive when we embody it. By this definition, being normal is rarely normal. By this definition, Jake and other autistic people like Rosie are more normal than most. Even still what is normal for Jake and for Rosie can differ tremendously. The definition of normal is incredibly diverse.
Normal shouldn’t be a holding cell. Normal shouldn’t be defined by the views of others, it should be defined by what is inside. What we decide is normal, to a large extent, should be an individual choice. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t turn to others or cut off anybody that doesn’t match with our personal definition of normal. On the contrary, we should befriend people that are different than us. By seeing how others live their lives we can get an understanding of our own. It was only through seeing Jake’s normal that I got these ideas. Normal shouldn’t shun differences, it should praise them. So forget about being “normal” and celebrate your uniqueness. Celebrate your individuality. Celebrate your idiosyncrasies. Celebrate your freedom.
Bonus: My Nickname Was Retard by Jerusalem U Ft. Ben (4 mins 27 secs)
I’m not crying, you’re crying
Given the fact that my brother is autistic I tend to get very emotional about the hardships of an autistic person.
Ben was diagnosed with Autism at an early age and because of this was deemed retarded by the school system and his fellow students. Tired of being bullied and crying himself to sleep he decided that enough was enough. My words can’t do this justice so watch the video to hear the heartfelt story of a young autistic man who overcomes his limitations and is on track to do things that other people told him he could never accomplish.
Ben is an inspiration for me and I have no doubts you will feel inspired too. Break your restraints, be free from the limits that were holding you back and accomplish everything you want to. You are capable.
Quote: “Different, not less” — Temple Grandin
Thank you for reading this week, I hope that this post gave you some insight into the mind of an autistic person. I hope you now have a better understanding and will acknowledge that their differences do not make them less than anyone else. Yes, they are special and in more ways than one.
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To your growth! Stay curious…
P.S. If you want my notes for the book above, send me an email with the subject “Notes for (insert book name)” and I will happily share.
