Barb's Lecture

     I was incredibly moved and a little stunned by Barb's lecture. Perhaps it is because my experiences with those with "disabilities" are very limited or perhaps it is because my perception of disabilities is so different than that of Barb's, but I can say with certainty that I walked out of the lecture with a very different and new perspective of Autism.
     My personal experiences with Autism are quite limited - I have some close family friends with very mild Autism, which only limits their socialization and desire to speak in large groups of people. What Barb said about people's perceptions of those with severe Autism like herself is true - people look at her (and them) with pity, patronization, repulsion, and fear. Though I believe myself to be an accepting and open-minded individual, I can admit now that I went in to the lecture with lowered expectations for Barb. How happy I am to be proven so very wrong! Though Barb cannot speak and takes a long time to type her thoughts, she is undoubtedly brilliant. It pains me to know that she spent so much of her life guised as a poor thinker merely due to her difficulties communicating. Likewise, after hearing about her 19 years of schooling that were, as she put it, worth nothing, I felt a sense of duty to prevent my future students slipping through the cracks academically and socially. Autism is not an intellectual disability per se, and should not be treated as such. However, what I learned from her lecture that is somewhat counterintuitive from what I have learned this semester in that perceptions and expectations do not make the person, but rather confine the one who is perceiving and expecting. Even if I have students come to me labeled as "profoundly retarded" (though unlikely in my general education classroom), I must look past that label and try to connect with the student as an individual, not as his or her disability.
     Barb's open acceptance and pride of her Autism is particularly meaningful - no one should feel regret or shame for who they are. Barb is happy to be Autistic, saying "the world needs Autism". The world is made up of individuals, and to attempt to weed out the individualism would inherently destroy society. As her SS said, "cloning" eradicates what is so special about an individual and can likewise limit the greatness of society. Her flower analogy really put labeling into perspective for me - by dubbing each oddity or difference in an individual as a limitation or something to be fixed, it lowers that individuals self-esteem and desire to play their necessary role in the world.
     I hope I can apply what I learned from this experience to my teaching - by emphasizing everyone's differences and being proud of those differences, those individuals are far more likely to grow and succeed to their fullest potential. If Barb's cause had been foregone, she would not have been able to bring her strengths to light and therefore would not have been able to help those like her.
     "Autism is my prism, not my prison."