A thousand souls – a poem about autism by Kathy Carter of spectra.blog
In a lifetime we’re privileged to meet eighty thousand souls.
Around a thousand have autism; still with dreams and goals.
On the autistic spectrum, processing is a chore.
Not necessarily ‘impaired’; nor diseased to their core.
Educators, practitioners, families and friends
Lacking understanding, yet on them the autist depends.
How many of this thousand that we’ll meet, have diagnosis?
Many are still unaware; yet we share symbiosis.
Without autism, computers, smart phones, tech are less enduring;
Pioneers forging ‘aspie’ paths: Tesler, Gates and Turing.
So, what’s the difference in these souls, the thousand that we’ll meet?
Maybe sensory challenges, to light and sound and heat.
A difficulty blending in; socialisation quirks.
Different communication styles; a trait that sometimes irks.
But at their core, a simple truth – differences in processing.
A brain speed sometimes fast or slow – constantly assessing.
These souls, often creative: scientists, artists, writers.
Musicians, sculptors, poets, whose creations still delight us.
Many leading figures; Michelangelo, Warhol, Mozart
Are thought to have been autistic – perhaps it drove their art.
Yet those with autism don’t want reverence; handling with kid glove.
Just inclusion, acceptance, and a healthy dose of love.
Much less ignorance: ‘Well. We’re all autistic aren’t we?’
No. And while we’re at it, that young autist isn’t naughty.
Another irk. ‘You must be high functioning’, peers say.
It’s called ‘autistic masking’, to get one through the day.
So, these one thousand souls, that we’ll meet throughout our life.
They’re our bosses, neighbours, workmates; a husband and a wife.
The literal thinkers, loyal peers, problem solvers great.
The listeners, grounded cynics, the friends we truly rate.
Their daily struggles are unseen. Until the curtains close.
Their difference in processing results in crashing lows.
So education, acceptance and awareness are our goals
To understand autism, and embrace these thousand souls.
Also published on Medium.
A true work of genius, Kathy.
Unlike many others, I am not sitting with my head buried in the sand over issues that people with ASC have always faced, and continue to face on a daily basis.
I know this is probably the umpteenth time I have brought this up on here but those ‘many others’ I am referring to, often (and annoyingly) seem to keep playing the proverbial ‘blame game’, proclaiming that the condition barely existed in the mythical ‘simpler’ times before the 1990s and all the constant talk of ‘mollycoddling’, bad parenting (e.g. allowing kids to be ‘spoilt brats’) bad influences from TV/films, popular music, social media, video games, increasingly poor diets, ‘Snowflake’ culture, etc, which often proves to be nothing more than myths often concocted by the mass media in order to shift product and, inadvertently, make money.
Perhaps we should all try to get out more and live in the ‘real’ world and not in our own virtual ‘bubbles’, ASC or not.
JFC.