Autistic Children Of America
Hi everyone! We would like to take a moment to share this blog post with the people we're all here for - the kids! This is for the * Autistic children of America * of parents and caregivers/guardians to contribute and from any autistic children behavior or background . Please read the whole post before commenting. All autism levels are welcome to participate.
Dear kids: what is something that you would like people to understand about you, or about being autistic? What's something cool you can do? What would you like to tell autistic grown-ups, or other autistic kids? Is there anything you would like to share with us - general thoughts, collections, artworks? (They don't have to be about being autistic person. We would just love to see and hear anything you want to share with us!).
Parents: please *only* use your children's contributions with their permission, and share *only* their own thoughts (not yours). This includes autistic parents. This is a post for *autistic kids* only to answer - not all your kids! Message me if your child would prefer you to share anonymously, and I'll add their comment for you.
*** You can ask your child if and how they would like to contribute in any way that they will understand best. You don't have to use our words.
*** Don't include names or pictures of faces. You can include your child's age. This autism spectrum disorder post can be shared with kids as well, so make sure your child knows that adults and kids will be viewing the post.
*** Where necessary, it's ok to be an interpreter for your child (for example, if they use non-verbal AAC, or speak in echolalia/ gestalt phrases that need translation for others to understand). It's also ok to give *directly relevant* context, if it's necessary to understanding the child's contribution. Just be careful to not interject your own voice, autistic people under the age of 18 only, thanks!.
*** Autistic adults are allowed to reply here, directly to the individual children about their contributions (not to the parents, and not on the main comment thread - this is still a post for the kids).
I asked my 8 year old for a picture to attach to this post, and he asked me to share this little dude he made. He told me it says 'hello to all you people!'
Comments
There are thousands of children worldwide with these health conditions. Autistic people are becoming more normal around families, and they are getting used to dealing with family boys and girls learning capabilities.
I really don't want to be not even close to an autistic person because I heard that they have no feelings and they like to avoid conversations and friendships.
My friend has a son with that condition and he never want to talk to his dad, also his son is already 27 years old and he avoids calling him and unrecognized him for ever.
MY best friend is an autistic person and I enjoy talking with her two times a week. She always look to the right and never see me on my eyes, I think that's cute.
My 8 year old autistic son says: I love trains. My favorite type of engine in Strasburg is the Strasburg railroad 89. It used to be a Canadian National. You can tell because the front says Canadian National. I like its coal tender. It says Strasburg railroad. And that on the front under its light it says Canadian National 89. It’s a steam engine and I love steam engines. I like its size. It’s smaller than the Strasburg 90 but bigger than Strasburg 4. I like steam engines better than diesels because they’re calming and they were here when our ancestors were alive. They can bring back memories of people we love. I tap a lot and I know about trains that aren’t even in my state.”
We would really, really like to hear from more kids. I know it's work, but if you can take a moment to help your child share something, please do! Consider how important it is to help elevate their own voices in a community like this. We would especially love to see some contributions from kids who are non-verbal, if possible. Thanks for your contributions!
I asked my autistic 6 year old son and this was his response: "My life is hard. I wish everyone would just believe people when they say stuff is hard. Everything is hard. That's what he wants people to know most of all. I would like people to be impressed that I’m stronger than you (he means me specifically not the general you here). And I have really long hair. It’s down to my back. And I can do math pretty fast like 4+4 is 8 and 3+3 is 6. Like that. So are they talking about things I can do? (Yep that’s fine) Oh yeah so I can touch the thermostat. And I think I can make hot dogs now cause I just need a fork and the hot dogs and also a stove..no not a stove what is it called again...(a microwave?) yeah a microwave cause I just need that. Three things that are pretty easy to find”.
"So for general thoughts and stuff, once you start having the same kind of thoughts for the day, I can get stuck with those thoughts for a few months- so it's very hard to focus on something else, until I get those thoughts out of the way. For me, it's not easy to take a bath or shower. But once I'm in, I don't want to get out. How ironic. And another thing, I'm just confused when non-autistics want to watch what you're watching with you, they ask 'what are you watching' instead of 'can I watch with you?' Because when I answer what I'm watching, they get all weirded out and don't want to be with me. Our brains are wired different and stuff, but honestly, people are people. My recommendation for deciding how to teach your children is to homeschool them so they don't get overwhelmed so easily. I had to deal with a lot of chaos in school, it was not fun, so if you kid is autistic and starting to have problems in school, it will happen more and more, so you should just pull them out and homeschool before it gets too overwhelming for them. That's all I have to say, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Have a great day or night. I'm glad my words got to be put out in public. I hope my words help an autistic child " ~from my 10 year old autistic daughter
From my 13 y.o autistic kid sister (I am now her caregiver): “Being autistic doesn’t mean that we’re all the same. We are unique in all ways, from artistic all the way to being brilliant people. We are just as human as everyone else. I find it hard sometimes to get along with people because of stuff that I have done in the past. I don’t do the stuff anymore but people still remember. All autistic people should know that we are not dumb like they show in the media, we can be as good or better as most people can be.”