For those of you who may not know, April 2nd was deemed “World Autism Awareness Day” to “give extra awareness about autism and how it affects people around the world.” But I think that we, at least here in America, are already quite aware of autism. It was suggested that we start calling it “Autism Acceptance” instead of awareness, but as someone pointed out, autism acceptance shouldn’t last only one day or be for one month out of the year, it should last all year long. So, happy Autism Day, everyone.

I said yesterday that I would like to use this month to talk more about autism because, though most are already aware that it exists, there seems to be a lot of discourse on what autism actually is and who really qualifies for the diagnosis. Today, I wanted to start the conversation on what autism is by discussing what it is not.

First of all, you may remember me talking before about “high needs vs low needs” and how I (and many others) don’t really believe that is a good descriptor. The reason for that is that people who have what you might refer to as “high needs” autism, actually have one or more other learning and/or developmental or physical disabilities in addition to autism. While that is easily recognizable in some cases– for example someone who has both autism and downs syndrome because downs syndrome does have distinct characteristics that many people are familiar with and is a relatively well-known disorder, you would understand that not every autistic person has downs syndrome and vise versa despite that they are often found together. This may not be true of other disabilities or disorders associated with an autism diagnosis, and so those additional traits get lumped in with autism. It is understandably confusing as to where the actual line between autism and traits that may or may not be associated with autism whilst not actually being part of the diagnosis itself is drawn.

Another thing that so many people don’t realize is that the meltdowns and emotional distress that society recognizes as autism are not actually part of the diagnosis at all. When autistic adults and children are in an environment that is suited to them and in which they are able to effectively communicate their own needs (which may require the use of AAC [Augmentive and Alternative Communication] for some) this seemingly erratic behavior disappears.

Take away anyone’s ability to communicate about their needs, sensory issues, pain level, fear, or frustration and you are likely to get the same reaction from them as well. It’s not an autistic trait, it’s a human reaction to a breakdown in the lines of communication. And when you consider that what an autism diagnosis is actually symbolizing is a difference in the way an autistic person’s brain receives and interprets information, it becomes very clear that autism isn’t some enigmatic mystery to be solved, it is a difference in communication style and ability and therefore, bridging the communication gap is where we need to start. And that is what I am hoping to do in these upcoming weeks.