To many people Autism may just be an annoying disease that they know nothing about other than from the movie Rain Man. What many people don't know is that Autism runs on a spectrum. It's not just autism. There is also a kind of autism called Asperger's.
Asperger's is the highest-functioning autism. Most people with Asperger's or AS can still speak and understand what others are saying it is just harder for them to understand when they should talk and what they should say. Most people who are diagnosed with Asperger's are very smart. Seeing the movie Rain Man and looking back on that may help you understand that Autistics can be very smart. But then again, not all of them are. I personally, know quite a handful of children with Asperger's syndrome. One of the boys almost scares me because of how smart he is. Mind me, this boy is in the 8th grade and has the entire periodic table memorized and also has plans to become a Doctor just like his father. But, not only does he want to become a Doctor, he also has plans to take over the world, and he will tell you exactly how he plans to do this.
I also know other children with Asperger's and even though they are very intelligent it may not stick out to you like it would when I explained above. You will also find that a lot of people do not even realize that some children have Asperger's. A lot of times you find any average human shy in public or not knowing when to speak. This is why sometimes people do not even realize it. Also, from my own experience I have noticed that the children I work with are most comfortable working in routines. For instance, the kid I babysit like to have his fan on 3 every single night. Once I turned it on 1 because it was a very cold night and he knew right away that it was not on 3 and insisted that I turned it on 3 for him to fall asleep. This 8 year old also loves playing video games but each time him and I play he insists that the volume is turned all the way up on the 'DS' and that the door to the room is closed. If it isn't closed it's almost as if he can't enjoy his game anymore.
The one thing that I do not like about Autistic people is that they have trouble finding the humor in a simple joke. It is very hard to use sarcasm with them because a lot of times they take it seriously. For example, last night I was playing Cars 2 Monopoly with a boy who has Aspergers and when I passed 'GO' I was supposed to retrieve 2 dollars. I jokingly said "You owe me 12 dollars for passing GO!" and he pulled out the directions to make sure that he was right by giving me 2 dollars. He didn't find the humor in my sarcasm or even realize that I was being sarcastic. Every once in a while when you do catch a laugh it makes you feel really good about things because you know that they are enjoying themselves and it makes you feel like they can be just like any other human being.
The one thing that I do not like about Autistic people is that they have trouble finding the humor in a simple joke. It is very hard to use sarcasm with them because a lot of times they take it seriously. For example, last night I was playing Cars 2 Monopoly with a boy who has Aspergers and when I passed 'GO' I was supposed to retrieve 2 dollars. I jokingly said "You owe me 12 dollars for passing GO!" and he pulled out the directions to make sure that he was right by giving me 2 dollars. He didn't find the humor in my sarcasm or even realize that I was being sarcastic. Every once in a while when you do catch a laugh it makes you feel really good about things because you know that they are enjoying themselves and it makes you feel like they can be just like any other human being.
Not all autism is the same. Even if you are comparing two human beings with Aspergers you will find hundreds of differences in one another. That is why I find every single one of them interesting in their own way!
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