April 2018 - Autism Acceptance Month 2018

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS COPIED OVER FROM MY FACEBOOK, WHERE I STILL USED THE ANNUAL MODEL OF POSTING, THERE MAY BE SOME REFERENCES TO THIS MODEL, JUST IGNORE THEM.

April 2018 is world autism awareness month 2018. During this time, people are meant to think about autism, actually begin to become aware of it, and finally, the part that people don't seem to get, understand and accept it. So, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joshua, I was diagnosed with what used to be called Asperger's syndrome when I was in year 3. What this meant was that I had slight learning difficulties which could sometimes make it hard for me to focus and sometimes I had slight extra anger issues and some social issues. Making friends was hard and getting angry at people and lashing out was easy.

Over time, I began to learn more about autism and even began to give presentations to others about what it was, in year 5, I made a booklet for my class to help them understand what it was, year 6 I educated parents on autism, and now, in year 9, I am about to educate (approximately) 150 people in my year on what autism is.

autistic people are not different. Anyone who can define normal, please do, I'd love to hear it. Normal isn't a thing, No two people will ever be the same because everyone is created differently.

When someone is autistic, they have more neurological connections to their brain. They can send and receive data to and from their brain faster. Someone with autism is actually usually going to end up being really intelligent. Autism doesn't mean you're stupid, it means you think differently, when an autistic child acts up, they're usually in sensory overload. Most autistic children have their senses wired in a bit of an odd way, so their senses overload easier.

examples of famous people with autism:

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, etc. Each of them was diagnosed with autism, told they would never succeed in school, and look where you are now! without them, would life on earth ever be the same?

so before thinking about anything to do with autism, think about what I just said.

also, if anyone who read this has learned something about autism, please comment what you've learned.

Everyone enjoy your autism awareness month, and please, just stop bullying autistic people and treating us differently. If you're ever about to, just think: there is no normal, everyone is different to me, so how is it fair to treat someone differently when everyone is different?

remember, that person could easily be the next Bill Gates and you'll be saying: I knew that guy in school, or at work in his/her previous job!

also, remember, girls can also be autistic. Don't just think it's only boys. The symptoms are just different.

Finally, don't even dare to "cure" autism. It's impossible. Stop bothering with it, it isn't caused by vaccines, that was a fake rumor, and it can't be cured. Not possible, because it's not an illness, it, instead is a special form of learning disability. It comes with its ups and downs and is a wild ride, but live with it, be aware of it, and most importantly, understand it.

thank you to anyone who took a few minutes out of their life to learn something new.

- Joshua Gross