national autism awareness month

There are over 7 billion humans on this earth and not one of them is the same, that amazes me that every single person on planet earth is so different, there are 7 billion brains floating around and there isn’t one matching pair, its beautiful. Some differences are easy to spot, hair colour, height, and race for example but some things which make us different we can’t see because they hide themselves inside our brains, wrapped up tightly, fears, dreams, and desires. The world Is an amazing and diverse place and the way we see the world varies from person to person too, which is a little bit harder to understand, like how some people see a glass half empty and some see glass half full, which is bound to happen with so many interesting and complex brains in the world it would be ridiculous to think they’d all see everything in the same way. Most of the way we see the world is processed by our senses, sometimes our brains are wired in a way where it confuses the senses and alters how we perceive the world and read certain situations; this is called autism spectrum disorder. 1 in 68 people have Autism, this probably includes at least one person you know, yet few people understand the challenges and triumphs of living with autism, which is why it’s important to raise awareness and talk about it, this week is national autism awareness week, and I want to share with you an insight to the beautiful and complex brain of a person on the autism spectrum.

Having autism does come with challenges but it also comes with some gifts as well, people on the spectrum usually have talent in areas such as science, music, and mathematics, due to the very factual ay we see the world, some of history’s greatest innovators were autistic, Albert Einstein, Andy Warhol, and Mozart just to name a few. However, this can also have the opposite effect, activities most people find incredibly easy a person on the spectrum may find very hard, such as understanding sarcasm and making eye contact. Everyone is very familiar with the five senses, we learnt them in primary school, they send messages to your brain about the outside world and the people in it, but sometimes a person’s brain and a person’s senses do not communicate very well making the brain become confused and overwhelmed to the point a person “melts down” this is known as over stimulation. For most people a shopping centre isn’t a scary place, some people even find it pleasurable but for someone with ASD its overwhelming and scary; the lights are too bright, they pierce their eyes, the sound of shoes on patent floor ricochets through their brain and ear drums, the constant nudging and touching by strangers in bustling shops burn their skin and makes them itch, the smell of all the food stalls and cafes makes them feel sick to their stomach, this is just a general example of how hyper sensitivity effects people. Unfortunately, most people with ASD can’t communicate that they are overwhelmed, so even though there is chaos going around if their heads the outside world is none the wiser. We all develop habits to help us cope in difficult and uncomfortable situations, like when you’re doing a presentation you might look at the floor or bite your lips. For an autistic person, the world presents a lot of difficult and uncomfortable situations and in intense moments they develop strategies to calm themselves which might seem strange, such as flapping their arms or rocking back and forth. These motions signal that they are having a difficult time, instead of judging them and giving them disarming stares, mocking, and ignoring them get to know them and understand their needs, despite having additional needs autistic people share the same need and desire for human compassion as anybody else.

Autistic people are not strange, broken, deformed, or disabled, they are just simply have a different view of the world, and with a little time and encouragement from the people around them they might be able to share their amazing view of the world with us. ASD is a complex and interesting condition which sometimes makes life very hard, but it’s also an amazing gift, the condition doesn’t get nearly as much recognition and attention as it deserves, autism can make phenomenal things happen if people only take the time to understand. We are a community that does face hardship and discrimation but have an amazing perspective on the world but now we are just burying seeds waiting to be given the water of awareness to blossom. This autism awareness month be kind to everyone you meet, you have no idea what internal battles they are facing, phenomenal things happen when we open our hearts.