In the aftermath of my previous post (An Open Letter to Anti-Vaxxer Parents from an Autistic Woman), I have received a wide variety of insults. I’ve been called names that I cannot repeat here, I have been told that I am a disgrace to science, but the insult that has stuck out the most has been the assertion that my autism is something that is “wrong” with me.

My autism is not a defect. It is not an unfortunate circumstance that just happened one day. It is NOT something that is wrong with me.

No, it is not a flaw in my neurological wiring. It is simply a difference in how I learn and experience the world.

Is there something “wrong” with those who learn differently? Would you tell a visual, kinetic, or auditory learner that there is something “wrong” with them?

If someone, through their senses, perceives the world differently, would you tell them that something is “wrong” with them?

If someone has a different way of coping with the world around them than you, would you tell them that something is “wrong” with them?

Yes, I handle the world differently. Yes, my experience is different than the experience that a non-autistic person has. Yes, I am still a human being, despite what a lot of people say.

But no, there is nothing “wrong” with me- but there is something wrong with your warped view of autism.

~Meghan