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Debra A.

September 17, 2006

The media has a dramatic way of portraying people with "disabilities" in general.  All of the news reports, movies, and articles from magazines try to make them so horrible for the people themselves and also for their parents to experience.  Unfortunately, this is all that most people know about any disability is through dramatized media.  One of those "handicaps" is Autism.  I can always pinpoint dramatics within the text for this "disorder" because I personally have gone through this, and have a better clue than the media.  I have conjured up this work to express that Autism isn't necessarily a handicap, it can be a gift.  The reasons are that one other part of the brain may be enhanced while language abilities may go down, there is a chance where autistics IQ levels are average or above average, and most autistics can learn to communicate through other means, instead of direct verbal communication.  All of the human brains are like gardens; like one's strengths and weaknesses, some plants grow and develop better than others.  This is the same case for "handicapped" people.

Autism can be a gift because when the development of one area of the brain, in this case the language area, is sapped, another area may develop more than usual.  Take my art talent as an example.  It's my forte because of visual memory.  When I study an object, whether it be from a photo or the actual thing I remember how images are supposed to appear, and I try my best to translate that to paper.  This visual memory can also transit to other things, like saying the alphabet backwards cleanly, without pausing.  I can't do it as well as I use to, but while I said the alphabet backwards to my second grade teacher, I could "visualize" the letters and my mind just followed every letter from right to left.  This can be compared to the group of tall, vivid flowers that are planted smack in the middle of the garden.  My art abilities are usually noticed first when it comes to people getting to know me.

Visualization's one thing, but how about intelligence?  There is a possibility that autistic people can have average or higher than average intelligence. One would be referred to as a high functioning autistic if this were the case.  I ended up scoring really high on the visual perception testing, and above average on language (my personal success), spelling, and memorization.  Before this, I found school hard because of the language aspect.  It felt like I had a mental block that only ceased to exist after I changed my mind-set to see things more easily.  This knowledge represents the interesting looking plant that isn't as noticeable as the vivid flowers, but has adapted to the world unlike most plants – for instance the Venus fly trap.  Before this plant was a fly trap, it had to have been a dying flower in an environment that wasn't fit for it.  In return, it adapted to eat flies in order for it to survive.  I use my knowledge to get around this confusing world, and to make sense of it, instead of making myself depressed over not understanding the world – especially in social situations.

As another way of making sense of the social world, I observe it like a scientist, instead of diving into social situations.  However, this doesn't mean I didn't learn how to communicate normally; I sure did.  I just don't feel the need to talk all the time.  But if there's ever a topic that's interesting, I'll join in and put my thoughts in the best of words possible.  For example, when the wind isn't blowing, you won't hear a lot from the garden.  But if there's something interesting sparks thoughts, like the wind, you'll hear the rustle of leaves and see the garden sway to life, just like me.

The possibility of being talented in art (or math), have intelligence freed from an obstacle, and still find a way to communicate like the rest of the nuerotypical people makes being autistic worth it to me.  I am glad it was even possible to reach to those points, or otherwise I'd still be in Special Education.  My garden turned out to be in one of the best arrangements.  Everything is balanced out, and my favorite flowers of the group are there to be seen.  Now, I know there's a possibility of autistics becoming mentally retarded. And I know there's a possibility to become so severely damaged that there's no way severely autistic people can get out of the garden's shed that's tucked beside the garden, or let anything else in for that matter.  In other words, they may never get out of their world, or let others into their lives.  Regardless of the dark side of autism, remember that there's a very bright side to it as well, and we can't always think of the bad things.  Now, I want to ask all of you who are reading this: Am I handicapped or have I been blessed with a gift?