Living Black With Autism? What’s That?

Disclaimer

 Before I begin this post, let me make something clear if you have noticed or not I type how I speak. And, I am not going to sugar coat anything, if you feel Autism is “made up” and that it the “White Folk” made it up to get money or it came from getting shots or ANYTHING ignorant; and you did not come with an open mind this article may not be for you.

I am going to define what Autism is for the people who do not know what it means here: 

Definition

“A developmental disorder of variable severity that is characterized by difficulty in social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behavior.”

The Story

When I first went to get my mental health diagnoses the doctor felt I was autistic, but they did not know right then and there if it was one hundred percent . When I went back the second time they confirmed that I actually was Autistic.

That opened a full can of worms, finding services for a girl like me, but like always mom’s do everything in their power to make sure their children have everything they need. 

By this time I was twelve, so it was WAY harder for my mother to get and or even find the services needed for me, most people are diagnosed before they start learning developmental skills. But as always my fantastic mother figured it out. 

 My mother was once told that Autism was a middle-class white man’s diagnosis and he was surprised that I had it.

Lots of times when I speak that I have it, people say I do not “look” like I have it. I always ask myself what does Autism look like? I always get the “well why can you talk like a normal human” or you “look functional” But, let’s face it, Autism comes in different forms and shapes.

I would suggest learning about it and doing in depth research on it, it will blow your mind. 

Growing up, I always had a hard time making friends and me explaining that I do not want to make friends or anything.

It is just SO hard no matter how hard I try it is so hard. Me saying that goes death ears to people they do not get it and it really brought me to make a blog section to this topic.

Because this goes beyond an Introvert and even having Social Anxiety this is a developmental disorder and honestly it does not make it any easier if you actually have anxiety it is almost nearly impossible to make friends in person. Do not get me wrong,

I still try and stay believe that friends and eventually my husband will come. But this life does not make it any easier. Today’s generation and the world does not make it ANY easier. 

The Life We Live

You ever thought what it was like to live in a world with a hidden disability? Well I’m going to explain it. Watch this. Imagine being blind and people telling you GIRL STOP PLAYING YOU CAN SEE!

Imagine being deaf and people still trying to talk to you through words. Or imagine you being in a wheelchair and someone shouts and says “Bro, you look like you can walk” Sounds stupid right?

That’s what it is like to live in a world where you have a hidden disability, that is what we with hidden disabilities go through and deal with.

Is There Really a Future?

I always ask myself, will I ever be able to be like my peers? Will I ever be able to go through like easy? Will there ever be a time where my parents aren’t always checking up on me?

Will there ever be a time where I won’t have to grow and mature faster than my peers, and the answer is NO! I will NEVER have those luxury’s I will NEVER not be able to live a life like others.

The reason is, I am not like others. I will always be put in positions where I have to act quickly. I will always have those instances where people will try to manipulate me.

And I will always will ALWAYS have to have my guard up. I will always have to live a “different” life.  And you know I am okay with that. There are kids who will have to live at home or in  home forever and guess what? That’s okay too. Again EVERYONE is different

What’s My “Thing”

Like stated before NO ONE with autism is the same. We all have our challenges. We all have our good thing’s. We ALL are good at something! We all have our “thing”  I have talked to a lot of us autistic kid’s and or their parent’s and a lot of us I have found are super smart.

One person in particular I remember I was speaking with his mom and she said he can build train-sets in under five seconds. My “thing” is I love music and movies. If I have seen the movie I know every single character in the movie and their life story. What’s your “thing” Comment below

Taking a Stand

Nah, but for real y’all Black people, YEAH I said it, Black folk it is time to take a stand, get tested, get your child tested! I do not know how many times I have to say this.

It is better to know, than not to and you and/or your child go through life facing unnecessary stuff which could be prevented if you would have just done the testing. Here are some signs you should look for:

• Avoiding eye contact
• Delayed speech and communication skills
• Reliance on rules and routines
• Being upset by relatively minor changes
• Unexpected reactions to sounds, tastes, sights, touch and smells
• Difficulty understanding other people’s emotions
• Focusing on or becoming obsessed by a narrow range of interests or objects
• Engaging in repetitive behavior such as flapping hands or rocking
• Children not responding to their name by 12 months
• Children not pointing at distant objects by 14 months (Ada.com)

I hope you enjoyed this article out of many more to come!