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Let me give you ideas, and you CAn guess who I am

 

  • I am not a person, place, or thing. You can’t see me or touch me or smell me

  • I am a diagnosis

  • I am considered a human condition, but really I am a collection of symptoms

  • I am the twitching finger and the flapping hand

  • I am the silent toddler with downcast eyes and a tippy-toe walk

  • I will make you have bad days and good days 

  • I live in each and every human possible, whether you know it or not

  • I live in South, West, East and North of the world

  • I have been around since the beginning of time, despite the façade of normal assembled by generations before you

  • I could makes you shy and also be the tag on your shirt that makes you itch

  • I am the sticky crunch of strawberry seeds and the overwhelming hum of the air conditioner

  • I make some people jump and flap, while others chew gum or run for miles or twirl their hair

  • A Tank engines snaking around your family room

  • Seeing these rows will make you feel frantic; frustrated and nervous and empty

  • Some days, I taste like shame and bitterness, burning up from a mother’s heart like sour indigestion

  • But other days, I taste like the purest joy; like cotton candy and happiness and pride exploding within your heart

  • I am in playgrounds, schools, colleges, university and work place

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I am Autism.

I am hours of minecraft.

I will make you and your family better.

If you let me, I will make the world better.

There is no normal, I am here to tell you this.

It is up to you how you see me; as a nuisance, a tantrum, a disorder, or a curious lamb wearing the costume of a wolf.

Can you look past these and find the soft, gentle child underneath?

Because of me, BAC was developed.

People often say a complicated symphony about me.

"Her hearing is so sensitive, she could tell the difference in the slightest tone"

I am so many things.

I am hope and possibility.

I am music and dreams, kindness and colour, I am gravity.

So please, before you panic or judge, before you race for a cure or rush to call me weird, try to remember my value and my goodness.

I will teach you the real meaning of unconditional love; a love so powerful and strong, it will rearrange your heart.

At first, you probably won’t even realize that you are learning from me.

I am so subtle.

I am practically invisible but every hour, every day, every year, you and I will make our peace.

You will step carefully over the long rows of trains, and admire the complicated cities in Minecraft.

You see, a still mind can still have great thoughts, and within even the quietest person, there is a voice, or a painting/picture, or a song. 

 

Autism Spectrum 

What is Autism?

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how someone communicate and interact with the world. It is usually present from birth although this may not be immediately obvious. 

Autism is a hidden disability. You can not tell someone is Autistic by the way they look, but possibly through their behaviours. Autistic people are often misunderstood and may require support with things like communication, interaction with others, using their imagination, being flexible and feeling overwhelmed by the activities around them. 

Autism affects individuals across a spectrum of abilities including those with learning difficulties, average and above average intelligence. It is a developmental disability which will vary over time due to maturation, interventions, personality and any environmental influences. Some Autistic people are able to live relatively independent lives while others may face additional challenges.

No two Autistic people are affected the same way, although there will be many similarities in core social areas of communication, interaction and flexibility there will also be many differences which will reflect an individual's profile within the spectrum.

Autistic people may act in a different way to other people, Autistic people may:

• See, hear and feel the world differently to other people

• Find it hard to understand how other people think or feel

• Find things like bright lights or loud noises overwhelming, stressful or uncomfortable

• Get anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events

• Take longer to understand information

• Do or think the same things over and over

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Autism is not an illness 

Being Autistic does not mean you have an illness or disease. It means your brain works in a different way from other people. It is something you are born with. Signs of Autism might be noticed when you're very young, or not until you're older.

If you're Autistic, you're Autistic your whole life. Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a cure, but some people need support to help them with certain things.

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Some Autistic people can live an independent life 

Being Autistic does not have to stop you having a good life. Like everyone, Autistic people have things they are good at as well as things they struggle with. Being Autistic does not mean you can never make friends, have relationships or get a job. But you might need extra help with these things.

 

Autism is different for everyone 

Autism is a spectrum. This means everybody with Autism is different.

Some Autistic people need little or no support. Others may need help from a parent or carer every day.

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Some people use other names for Autism 

There are other names for Autism used by some people, such as:

• Autism spectrum is the medical name for Autism

• Asperger is used by some people to describe Autistic people with average or above average intelligence

 

It's not clear what causes Autism 

Nobody knows what causes Autism, or if it has a cause. It can affect people in the same family. So it may sometimes be passed on to a child by their parents.

Autism is not caused by:

• Bad parenting

• Diet

• Vaccines such as the MMR vaccine

• An infection you can spread to other people

 

Autistic people can have any level of intelligence

Some Autistic people have average or above average intelligence. Some Autistic people have a learning disability. This means they may find it hard to look after themselves and need help with daily life.

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Autistic people may have other conditions

Autistic people often have other conditions, such as:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

• Dyslexia

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Epilepsy

• Eating disorder 

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