Ok so quick context here,
I really want to focus on the “explain like Im five part. ”
I’m already quite aware of what is autism.
But I have an autistic 9 yo son and I really struggle to explain the situation to him and other kids in simple understandable terms, suitable for their age, and ideally present him in a cool way that could preserve his self esteem.
In: 7421
Autism is the name given to a particular brain type, which creates a certain way of thinking and behaving, and like all brain types, has certain benefits and drawbacks. The main disadvantage with autism is simply that it is uncommon, with only around 1% of people having it, which means the world is not particularly well set up for the autistic mind. This means that situations such as brightly lit rooms, noisy, extra stimulating environments, (that people with some other brain types find it easy to cope in) are common place, and so autistic minds often need different environments or help to thrive in these conditions.
Imagine if every room smelt of poo, how well do you think you’d be able to concentrate at school if it all smelt of poo? Well it doesn’t, because all brain types can’t stand the smell of poo, the world is set up to not smell of poo. There are certain things that autistic people find it equally if not more hard to cope with than the smell of poo, but others don’t, the fact that others don’t though, and they are the majority, means it can be found everywhere, and so we need to help accommodate the autistic mind in the non autistic world, just as we would accommodate the non autistic mind in a world of 99% autistic people.
The main benefit is also that it is uncommon. That they can find some things easy that others do not, and thrive in areas that others find incredibly hard.
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