I originally wrote this one back in 2015.  As I was reading this tonight, I realized just how ignorant some people can be.  As you all know I am an advocate for Autism Awareness and I tend to get very emotional, if you read this you may understand why…..

I know, I know.  Autism Awareness month isn’t until next month.  But I read something rather disturbing today and I had to share it.  Do you all know John Stewart?  He has a late night show called the Daily Show and he discusses everything from vaccines to politics.  He is always very entertaining and I am going to miss his show when it’s done.  Anyway, he recently had a comedian/writer Rob Smigel on his show (from SNL fame) and Rob was saying how his son has Autism and they are raising money for Autism Awareness by putting on this show called “The Night of Too Many Stars” on the comedy channel (it is tonight I think).  Rob said and I quote “The whole show is about raising money — not to cure autism. Because a lot of people are working on biomedical research. My wife and I couldn’t get our kid into any kind of school or program that was adequate for him until he was 7 years old. And people with fewer resources than us — it’s unimaginable to us what they have to go through. And the kids. They deserve better.” Basically the show is to raise money for more awareness and for setting up programs and the such for anyone on the spectrum, young or old, high end or low end, verbal or nonverbal, etc.  Of course it caught my eye, as did some of the comments.

Most of you know how emotional I get when I talk about Autism and why I get so emotional.  So, I start scrolling through the comments and one in particular caught my eye, or rather one commenter caught my eye.  Here are just  few words she/he had to say that made my blood boil.

“Tell that to the people whose autistic kids are perpetually two seconds away from an outburst that might lead to someone being killed, maimed, or the house being destroyed. Tell that to the parents who fear for their lives. Tell that to the families who have to worry about bring jailed for caging their autistic kids at night just so they can sleep without fear of being attacked by their autistic kid.”

The reply:  ” Autism is a disability, and most of us don’t dispute that. However, your picture is gross and dehumanizing, because if an autistic person is upset and raging, it isn’t, as you seem to believe, just Because. It’s not just for kicks. It’s because something is unbelievably wrong – it’s because a primal need is not being met. And instead of working on it, people write them off as deranged or “aggressive” or something else equally hateful.  Autistic people are people. They have the exact same needs and wants as those who are neurotypical. If someone speaks fluent Japanese and you speak fluent Spanish, you don’t cage the Japanese speaker like an animal. You find someone who speaks Japanese so you can get their needs met.”

The original commenter:   “It’s a spectrum. Most people try to talk nice about it as though ALL Autistics are on the mild end of things, but they’re NOT. There ARE autistic people out there who are extremely dangerous and CANNOT be integrated into society like some kid who is mute but is a math genius on the side. People have to look at the whole thing, not just the easy-to-deal-with side.  And seriously, your language example would only touch base with what I’m talking about if your Japanese person was also trying to claw your eyes out at the same time.”

And now for the comment that made me angry:  “I wish so hard that I could just slap you. You have no idea what you’re talking about or what the families of these severely violent autistic parents are going through. These kids are nonverbal for the most part. They cannot communicate their needs, nor do they become calmer when they’re supposedly being met. They are practically rabid. They are genuinely too screwed up to help with these bullshit “we don’t need a cure” tactics…You try living with someone who has no ability to stay normal and calm for an extended period of time. You try living in a house with someone who openly attacks you while you try to sleep, FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN BECAUSE THEY CAN. I dare you. I *expletive* dare you…These are kids that need to be euthanized because there is absolutely NOTHING that can be done to help them. There isn’t a person on this earth that can read a severely autistic person’s mind and provide them with what they apparently need, nor is there anything that can be done to curb their violent outbursts when something mundane and simple doesn’t go their way. Normal kids might throw a fit and you can put them in time out, over something stupid like getting grape instead of apple juice…some of these severely autistic kids will literally try to *expletive* gouge your throat our with a rusty spoon. They cannot be helped and are a danger to themselves and others, at all times.

I tried to delete the swear words, hopefully there aren’t any I missed.  Anyway, it’s this attitude that makes me angry.  It’s this attitude that gets my blood boiling.  It is ignorance and stupidity at its finest and it is for reasons such as this that I am such a strong fighter for Autism Awareness.  Yes, it is true that people with Autism can have horrible sometimes devastating tantrums and meltdowns but it is always for a reason.  Even the lowest functioning people can be integrated into programs and schools with the proper help and assistance.  Some do get violent, but with proper interventions and proper teaching, even parents can help to calm them down.  There are so many techniques such as applying pressure to the body with tight hugs or weighted blankets, putting them in a special room with calming noises, lights, etc, sometimes even humming can calm them down enough to stop these outbursts.  The money being raised by this program will/should enable care givers the faculties needed to help those in their charge.

John Stewart did a good thing by talking to Rob Smigel I just wish the nay-sayers and the Negative Nellies would stay the hell out of it and keep their opinions to themselves.

Tanya out.