It was good to read about dealing with autistic children and their special needs in survival situations, and I’d like to thank Grey Woman for her article. There have been articles about the elderly, the physically handicapped, those with dementia, but we on the autistic spectrum have been largely ignored. Our differences are too bizarre for most people to understand.
Adult With Autism; We Grow Up
Let me introduce myself. I’m an adult with autism, and I’m also a fervent SurvivalBlog reader and occasional contributor. I also like to watch water going down a drain, insist that my egg be on the right side of my plate, and relax by studying the structure of the knotholes in our paneled den. “Quirky” is putting it mildly.
Prefer “Difference”
Incidentally, I never really liked calling what I am a “disorder”; I prefer “difference”. For some reason, no one understands, my brain works differently from that of other people. Human brains, like human faces, are very different. It’s doubtful Mozart could have written “Hamlet”, and I doubt Shakespeare could have dreamed up the prototype helicopter da Vinci designed. The autistic brain is just different. Sometimes this difference is good; sometimes it’s uncomfortable and unpleasant for me and those around me.
If you ever meet me, you won’t perceive anything unusual. I’m good at hiding my differences. Besides, I rarely speak to people. I don’t relate well, because I can’t perceive the subtle cues in body language or sometimes even speech. I usually miss jokes, and teasing goes over me like a waterfall. I just don’t get it.
Continue reading“Guess What? We Grow Up, by The Autistic Prepper”
