ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder, is a condition in which the brain of an affected individual is “wired” differently, leading to challenges in several areas of life. Communication, cognitive patterns, emotional processing, and personality traits are some examples of categories in which autistic people experience these differences, or as some might view them, “deficits.” However, as I will discuss in depth later, these “deficits” are only seen as such because they are the minority. In an opposite world where 99% of people have an autistic brain, I can promise that those with non-autistic brains would instead be seen as the ones with certain “deficits.” Basically, most experts nowadays see autism as simply a different type of brain, or neurotype, instead of a disorder. Thus, many advocates now call it Autism Spectrum Condition in an attempt to de-pathologize it.
Whatever you want to call it, autism is something that I have only recently come across with my own diagnosis. I mean, I had certainly heard of autism before, but my impression of the condition was beyond uneducated. Most of what I knew came from classmates and stereotypical autistic characters on TV, which, as I’m sure you can imagine, was not quite accurate.
Once I discovered I might be on the spectrum, I did what I usually do with new and mysterious information: research. I indulged in YouTube videos, scientific publications, and personal blog posts on ASD, all of which opened me up to the controversial and fascinating world of autism. I knew my previous ideas about the topic might be outdated, but what surprised me was how outdated and ignorant much of the media still was.
I expected most of the information I found on ASD to follow a similar pattern I discovered growing up with other topics. For instance, homophobia was something popular and widespread in my hometown, but I found quite the opposite in most places online. With autism, however, the ignorance surrounding autism in real life seemed unfortunately much more prevalent online as well, which I will discuss further in several posts.
Now, truly understanding the lack of awareness and acceptance of people with ASD, I want my passion blog for this semester to focus on those exact issues. I will be discussing information about ASD in general, exploring the experiences of specific people with ASD, and especially addressing controversies about the condition. While I know that only a handful of people may read this blog, it still motivates me to know that even one person will learn from my work and use it to continue the progress of autism acceptance.