I have a son who is autistic and I have Asperger’s myself, recently self diagnosed.

I was at work with a worker from out of town. I didn’t know her very well, but her personality really resonated with me and I enjoyed being around her the short amount of time she was there. The subject of autism came up and I got interested because I thought that she would have interesting things to say about it. Oh, was I wrong, and how glad I am that I kept my mouth shut about my son and myself, even though I feel like I should have said something.

She constantly complained about how a few students who are autistic acted like they knew everything and are authority opposers. Sure no one likes a know-it-all, but autistics and Asperger’s actually research what they want to know before spouting anything out. How she made it sound was that they were just trying to stir things up and get her angry for no reason. Then she goes off about how they get so angry and “violent” when they can’t “do whatever they want”. No, what’s actually happening is that you are disrupting their patterns and routines and it’s frustrating them because they don’t know how to divert around it and can actually send them into a panic attack. For example, what happens to me when a plan is changed or a spontaneous event occurs that will upset my whole schedule.

Maybe people should do a little research on certain brain types and mental disorders before submerging themselves into their worlds. They already feel alienated enough by people trying to make them “normal”.