I’ve spent a large amount of my time over the past five years at parks, birthday parties, on bike rides, watching "The Wiggles," and "Sesame Street" with a soon to be 8-year-old who falls under the classification of autistic. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders, autism is defined as “a spectrum disorder; a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, stereotyped patterns of behavior.”
After numerous periods of reflection on my time spent babysitting Nicholas I've come to understand that those on the spectrum have a gift. They are able to see the world through a different light than most of us.
I always fall short when trying to define what autism means to me. But, I don’t fall short by choice. I fall short because, although autism can be recognized and described by a classification of symptoms for doctoral purposes, those on the spectrum should never be labeled.
If you’re lucky enough to have somebody on the spectrum in your life, you’re bound to understand why a definition is nearly impossible to come by. One in 68 children, more than 3.5 million Americans, live with autism. It is presently know as the fastest growing developmental disorder, affecting tens of millions worldwide, quickly becoming a global health crisis.
Yet each individual, disregarding his or her differences in age and gender, remains so full of laughter and love. So strong of will to attract one person after another into their life. I no longer see Nicholas as a little boy that I babysit. I view him as a friend, my best, and someone who changed my outlook on life, when I didn't even know that a transformation was necessary or possible.
For me, definitions are finite and my experience with ASD has taught me that the value in friendship will always measure up to more than any combination of twenty-six letters. I may never be able to define autism with words in the English language, or any other, but that's something I have come to terms with.
To know someone on the Autism spectrum is to love them, wholeheartedly and unconditionally.
And after all, love does not need words.
