



December 1, 2014
In the movie, Steel Magnolias, Shelby, following a reaction to an excess of insulin, struggles to blurt out the sentence, “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!”
Autism Speaks controversial video, “Autism Every Day” features a scene where a mother briefly discusses committing suicide in her car with her autistic daughter. The girl is seen playing in the background as she says this.
It would seem impolite to talk about someone when they are standing within earshot, yet autistics experience this behavior on a regular basis.
In today’s world, a quick assessment of a person’s intelligence is often made on the basis of social skills.
Failure to respond in a “typical” way is equated with a failure to understand.
Autistics at every level of the spectrum can understand. Some with exceptionally high I.Q.s may understand a situation better than the person who is speaking to them.
They, simply, do not know how to respond.
A condition such as selective mutism, or apraxia of speech might be behind this failure to respond. A person with Asperger’s syndrome might be able to respond, but is reluctant to do so due to past social failures.
Non-verbal autistics who communicate with keyboards will report understanding what was being said around them, including being called “damaged” or a “burden.”
Many in the autistic community would call this a form of discrimination.
Read in Full:
http://www.examiner.com/article/autistic-person-the-room?cid=rss
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