I’ve compiled a list of “5 things you need to know about autism”. The idea being to give you some idea of what autism, and being autistic means. Whilst also dispelling some myths about autism. On with the list.
An autistic child turns into an autistic adult
If you think this sounds obvious I don’t blame you, but I can’t remember the amount of times I’ve heard. Won’t they grow out of it? The answer is no you don’t grow out of it, unfortunately that’s still not fully understood by some people.
Including the it seems our government etc.. as as soon as an autistic person hits 18, they seem to go completely off the radar. Services, care and benefits are suddenly stopped, and a transfer to adult services appears to be as easy as cracking an atom. When will this change? Hopefully sooner rather than later, but I won’t be holding my breath.
Autism isn’t a learning disability
An autistic person may or may not have a learning disability (and other diagnosis) alongside autism. What autism is, is a very complicated and disputed matter. The simple version of how I try and explain it is, it is a condition that affects communication and social interaction. Is that accurate, and the best way to put it? I don’t know.
Anyone can be autistic
For a long time autism was seen as a condition for white boys, one of the main reasons for this was the diagnosis procedure. It was tailored towards symptoms shown by white boys, leaving girls and people of different ethnic backgrounds completely overlooked. It’s now becoming understood that girls display symptoms differently, and progress is being made. 10 years ago our daughter probably wouldn’t have been diagnosed.
Not every autistic person is amazing at maths
More than once have I been asked, does that meat they are amazing at maths? When I’ve told people about Jack and Lily being autistic. No it doesn’t! Jack doesn’t do maths at all, and whilst maths is Lily’s favourite subject, she is still working behind her “expected level for her age” at the moment.
This applies for any other “special ability”, there are autistic people out there who have some unbelievable talents. Which should be celebrated, but I’ve also seen autistic people feeling bad about themselves for not appearing to have a special talent. That shouldn’t be the case, everyone is different and unique in their own way. Autistic or not.
You don’t need to feel sorry for parents of autistic children.
Thankfully no one has ever said, “oh I am sorry” to me, when I’ve told them my children are autistic. But it does happen a lot, as well as “awww” and the look of pity. My children aren’t ill! They find some things more difficult than others, but they are perfectly healthy.
There have been some difficult times, especially with Jack. I think they are coming with Lily, now she’s older her issues are becoming bigger. But I’m not sorry for who they are, so no one else should be.
They are my 5 things you need to know about autism, obviously there is a lot more to it. This I think is a good start for people who don’t know much about autism, to gain a bit of understanding.
Lastly I’d just like to mention that I’ve updated the website and integrated WordPress into the website. So I now have a nice new shiny like button at the end of posts, and a follow button to follow this blog on WordPress. Any support as always would be hugely appreciated, thanks.
Adam
My name is Adam. I live with my partner Natalie, and our 2 children Jack and Lily. Both children are autistic, it is now my mission to show what life around autism is like. Spread the awareness and gain the acceptance that autistic people deserve.
This is really helpful! I used to work in a multineeds classroom back in the day, and 3 of the children had signficant autism. I remember at the time feeling sorry for their parents because it seemed like it was probably so hard to manage all the time. But maybe that’s an outdated way of thinking!
It is hard, especially if the additional needs are severe, but honesty most of stress comes from services rather than the child. Schools, Social services, therapists etc not listening or putting the right things in place.
I just don’t want people feeling sorry for me, even if I understand where it’s coming from 😊
Very helpful advice to provide to people here, to understand the challenges of Autism. You’ve come far mate, you’re an inspiration to us all
Cheers mate, really appreciate it 😊
It’s great that you’re raising awareness! This will trickle down from parents to kids, to help kids be less judgmental. Nice post!
Thank you 😊 I really hope so, it be a wonderful thing to happen.
This is a wonderful post Adam for raising more awareness and educating people on Autism and what it entails for an Autistic person!
Thank you, I really appreciate your comment. Hopefully I can spread the message far and wide 😀
Brilliant post Adam. The misconceptions around Autism can at times be frankly terrifying. I just can’t get my head around people thinking it is something you can grow out of.
But I know this is something I have heard before! Shocking
Thank you, there are so many misconceptions, the fact it’s such a wide “spectrum” I think makes it difficult to understand for people, who have no real experience around it.
Great post. Some things that some people definitely need to take on board
As a teacher, I know a lot about working with students who have autism. But I didn’t realize how hard it was to get services as an adult. Such a shame. I hope this changes soon.
As soon as the 18th birthday hits, everything literally stops, and it’s apply to adult services, which can’t do until they’re 18. We have 6 years until Jacks 18, I really hope thinks have improved by then.
This is so important to share! Thank you for the great points about autism.
Thank you for reading, I really appreciate your comment, cheers 😊
Thank you for sharing this, I have heard things like, they will grow out of it mentioned. Spreading the awareness is important.
Thank you. The awareness has improved, though I think some people will always be ignorant, I hope it keeps improving.
This was a great post! I think I’ve commented on here before that I work with autistic children and I think it’s still a bit of an issue getting an autism diagnosis for girls, we have a much higher intake of boys than girls.
There has been some progress, but it’s still not good. Jack was diagnosed at 18 months after seeing a paediatrician for about a minute. It took until Lily was 7 and was a serious battle.
My son is at a specialist school just for autism, I don’t there’s a girl in the school.
This is such a great and informative post! I did not know that girls showed different symptoms than boys do. How interesting! Thanks for sharing all this.
Yeah, they basically “mask” the symptoms better too, which is why it was overlooked for so long.
I love this post. Great points that people need to listen to.
It’s great that you raise awareness for this and can help educate people about autism. I actually didn’t know that getting help after they turn 18 would be so difficult. I really don’t understand why that’s the case, as like you said it doesn’t just go away? Hopefully, this changes soon.
Thank you, the only answer o can give you is money. Not looking after children, disabled or otherwise will be criticised quickly, but there’s still a feeling with some that disabled adults are a costly burden.
Thank you for this! As someone who is studying to be part of the medical profession, I think it’s vital for me to learn about these types of conditions. Most of my previous knowledge about autism is sadly from television and so it may be a little too accurate but thank you for sharing😊✨
As with most things television, you get a sensationalised version. Autism is so varied it’s really difficult to get a full understanding of it. You can’t define autism in one character for example, due to it being so varied eg some will be really sensitive to noise, others won’t. Hence why autistic characters always seem to come under criticism in parts of the autistic community.
This is such a great post! I love that you can use your platform to educate people!
Amber – The Unpredicted Page
Thank you, I am sort of proud that im teaching people and “educating” them what I believe to be the right way 😊
I always thought autism was a learning difficulty,so I just learnt something new today
That’s generally how it’s perceived from the outside, as that’s how it’s been shown. Often learning disabilities are alongside autism, the same as adhd, and anxiety disorders, but they are all separate things.
I learnt new things about autism from this post, you’re doing a great job of making people more aware. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, I appreciate you saying that, I hope I am doing a good job of it.
Thank you for shedding light on this topic. Its weird that I’ve heard the one about people with autism being great at math. Thank you for clarifying and providing the right information on that!
It’s common one, and some autistic people are really good at math, the black & white nature of math, there’s one right answer and that’s it, does lend itself to the autistic way of thinking. But it’s not automatic that they are all maths geniuses.
Thank you for bringing awareness. I have known autistic children through my wife’s work and they are awesome kids. We have a friend that has an autistic son who is 22 and she struggles daily trying to find him help. Keep up the good work and spread the word.
Thank you 😊 it’s far too difficult to get the help they need, and it’s getting worse rather than better ☹️
Thank you for sharing this useful information. I don’t know much about Autism and so I found this post really helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, I’m glad you found it helpful 😊
Great informative post mate, keep up the good work your doing.
I really appreciate you sharing this information, some really important messages that need to be shared.
So great to see someone spreading awareness of autism. Keep up the good work
Thank you, i really appreciate your comment 😊