I am sick to death of the discrimination and hate against other races and people.
White people against black, everyone against Hispanic, calling them all ‘Mexicans’ (really?), the slurs against Asians and Middle Easterners – it is just sickening.
It seems that people are LOOKING for the differences to justify hate and fear (fear really is that basis for hate). They create this divide when really there is no difference.
But the biggest issue I have (since our sorry society is actually taking baby steps to move in the direction of ending racial and ethnic prejudice) is the discrimination I experience on a regular basis because of my (world defined) ‘disability.’
Autism is just another way of being, like having brown skin or white skin, blue eyes or brown ones, like being tall or short. It is a different wiring of the brain.
Autism is NOT a disease, a defect, a punishment (thanks a mil Toni Braxton for telling the world that your autistic child was a punishment – nice), something to be cured. Yes, some of us are less functional than others – ON THE OUTSIDE – but you really don’t know what is going on INSIDE.
Just because we make YOU uncomfortable doesn’t mean that we should be ‘cured’ or put away. Your discomfort does not invalidate our right to be held as valuable individuals. Some of the greatest minds in history were autistic – Einstein, Mozart, Temple Grandin, Bill Gates, and a whole host of highly creative, intelligent, scientific people. The list is incredible.
I have been discriminated against severely because of my ‘disability.’ I have been ridiculed, abused, rejected and been made an outcast because I am different. Most of the time that discrimination comes for sheer ignorance. People don’t understand and they don’t want to because if they take the time to learn then they can no longer justify their poor treatment of others. Yes, I am socially awkward. Yes, I say things sometimes that offend. That is not my intention but I just speak the truth and am not as equipped as my neutotypical counterparts to handle some aspects interpersonal communication.
I offended someone recently and they have become quite nasty towards me – trouble is I sometimes have to work with this person. This is just another example of someone preferring to remain in their ignorance and their maintaining a thin skin as opposed to taking the intelligent route and educating themselves and moving toward understanding. But their misplaced arrogance is their problem, not mine. Their choice to hate and discriminate instead of trying to become educated and better understand is their problem. And in all honesty, that typically indicates a lack of intelligence as well as a lack of character – something to think about.
There is a billboard about a mile from my home that promotes finding a ‘cure’ for autism – as if it is a disease. So speaking for the autistic community, I say this.
We don’t need to be cured; We need to be accepted.
Stop looking for our faults and differences because if that is all you want to see, that is all you will see – and you won’t have to look too hard. Then again, if all we wanted to see was YOUR faults and differences we wouldn’t have to look too hard either.
This is the way we were born. We did not choose our differently wired brain any more than you chose your height, skin color or eye color.
I was born this way and I wouldn’t change it for the world! Because of my autism I am intelligent, I see and experience the world in a different way. You know, if you stopped judging me and criticizing me, opened your heart and mind to actually get to know me you might even like me.
There is NOTHING in the Bible that says any race or ethnicity is an abomination or deserves to be abused. There is not one scripture that says people who are ‘disabled’ are less than human or are not able to serve God. Not a one.
Please, PLEASE stop seeing the differences and start seeing the contributions. They are there if you will just open your eyes. We are all here on this earth together, put here to serve the Lord, it is high time we come together and work in unity to do just that.
Graphic by 89studio
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The Christian Aspie 
I prefer the term “handicapped,” meaning “disadvantaged.” I liken it to sinistralism [left-handedness], but in our brains, instead of our preference of hands.
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In the present [Buyers’ Market] economy, the impact of said handicap is greatly exaggerated. Its impact is less pronounced in a Sellers’ Market economy, because a limited pool of qualified candidates will encourage employers to take a chance on us and see what we can do, instead of turning away due to a [typically] poor first impression.
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Interesting. I have found the opposite to be true. It is hard out there and in some places worse if you manage to get hired.
The federal government is one such area. It is HORRIBLE. I know quite a few people who are handicapped and have worked for the fed (including me) the terrible discrimination they experienced is heartbreaking.
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Do you mean discrimination as in “not being considered for the job,” or as in “poor treatment after being hired?”
Federal employment has an imposed quota for disabled or handicapped individuals and would likely exhibit the latter scenario. Private industry has no such mandate. It usually exhibits the former.
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It is abuse. They are bound by laws but they do not follow them. The abuse toward people is rampant in the fed.
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That is a good way of looking at it. They handicap horses in races by adding extra weight. Handicapped is a good term.
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Thank you for your blogs. I totally relate to what your saying here. Is it okay to share this on Facebook or any of your other blogs? If not, I respect that
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Thank you for your kind words, and please share! I write in hopes that people will become more sensitive, aware and educated in the struggles that people with autism, Asperger’s and other disabilities face.
Thank you for spreading the word.
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Thank you
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Updating contact info.
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