The ABCs of Autism Acceptance

by Sparrow Rose Jones

Just like a person who needs to vomit and is stuck in public has no choice but to vomit in front of everyone, an Autistic who has reached overload and is stuck in public has no choice but to stress out in front of everyone. It’s embarrassing. Humiliating. Traumatic. I never went back to that food court the rest of the time I was a student at that university. I couldn’t bear to revisit the scene of my trauma, the place of my shame. The loss of control is frightening. The loss of dignity is appalling. When a person pushes me to overload, especially when they over-ride my protests to do so, I experience a massive loss of trust and disassociate myself from that person. When someone tells you that they can’t handle something, your instinct may be to be a cheerleader and push them into it. “Of course you can! I’ll be right by your side the whole time!” “Don’t limit yourself with can’t!” “The only disability is a bad attitude!” There are all kinds of cheery platitudes meant to push people past their comfort zone. Sometimes that comfort zone is there for a very real reason and it’s important to respect that. Don’t lead with “Of course you can!” Lead with,