I’m encouraged as an autistic writer to be taken seriously. This for me is a dream come true. I realize there are so many misunderstandings about those of us on the spectrum who don’t speak. Our silence is like an invitation for negative assumptions. Our silence is like confirmation from the specialists that our cognitive functioning is as whacked as our bodies which don’t self-regulate well.
I think some of us have movement issues with our bodies, processing issues with our bodies, and even Tourette’s-like extreme, out-of-control body movements sometimes. There’s no shame in it, but it does make people underestimate you.
I am working on growing new neuro-connections in my frontal cortex. I’ve been lucky to have a therapist believe in me and he is working with me to help me control my impulses because even though I’ve presented as a nonverbal autistic, he recognized my typing as real 20 years ago, so he gives me really interesting things to do with my mind to improve my life.
I will give you an example of what it’s like to be believed as me in this life. When I was only about eight years old, maybe seven, my psychologist arranged for me to type my observations with facilitation before a group of pre-med psychiatry students. The main speaker was the prominent neuro-psychiatrist Dr. Ruth Ryan.
When I typed I told a really weird story in front of them. I told them about a past life I had. After I finished, Ruth turned to me and bowed to me. Then she said I was clairsentient. I’ll never forget that day. That is the power of being believed whether you act bizarre or not. That is why it is so necessary for us to write. Write on, my friends, write on.
Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3591573">Gerd Altmann</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3591573">Pixabay</a>
In Israel, starting about 25 years ago when Facilitated Communication allowed persons with nonverbal autism, including my son Ben now age 47, to communicate sophisticated ideas, there are many thousands of persons "respecting autistic minds." It is so sad that so many professionals have fought against Facilitated Communication and continue to do so.