April is Autism Awareness Month, and in celebration, I'd like to shine some light on the subject. Many people don't understand what autism really is and write off those with the disorder as "retarded" or "special." One, that's offensive. Two, that's not the case. I'm not saying those people are bad people because I have only recently come to understand this disorder and those related to it.
This past fall, my brother was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). He had just started sixth grade and switched from a very small private school to a large public school. The large crowds and increased responsibility caused him great anxiety, so bad that he wanted to be homeschooled. My family was very confused as to why he was having such a hard time, since neither myself or my other brother had experienced such a rough transition. He started seeing a counselor and it was there that we realized he had the syndrome. To put it simply, Asperger's Syndrome is when one has issues with social interaction and exhibit certain repetitive behaviors. It's on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum.
Here's the thing, if you ever met my brother, you would think he was just like you and me.
Here's the other thing: he is!
That's what many people don't understand about autism and ASDs, those that have them can be completely normal, and, most of the time, they are extremely intelligent. Never have I met a kid that knows more about videos games than my little brother. He can rattle off a ridiculous number of statistics and facts like no other. Not only is he great at videos games, the kid that despised school has a near perfect grade point average and has been invited to be in the gifted classes next year.
So what I don't understand is why people resort to calling people autistic as an OK insult to use. First of all, it's never cool to insult someone by telling them they're acting like they have a mental illness. That includes calling people autistic, retarded, down, or anything along those lines. It's never OK to pick on someone's way of life; they didn't choose to be born the way they are, and neither did you. Imagine if being taller than six feet made you a "freak of nature." You can't control how tall you will be someday. Now imagine people picking on you and calling you a giant and other mean names. Imagine when people wanted to jab at their friends, they called them giants. Wouldn't make you feel good, right? See what I mean?
Second of all, you have a pretty lame insult. If we're putting a positive spin on things, like I like to do, your "insult" is actually calling the person really smart. While they may be reserved and shy, and a little slower than you may be, chances are, they're kicking your ass in school. So, really, the joke's on you.
Do us all a favor and stop using mental disorders as insults, please and thank you. Here's to getting one step closer to ending the word "retarded" as an insult, and teaching people that their disorders do not define them.
