Next Jump in Human Evolution

From September 2015

When it comes to autism, I have a bit of a quirky take on it. From the beginning, I have taught PanKwake that she is a Superhero. I compare her to Jean Gray of X-Men fame. I tell her that we simply need to train her brain to use its super powers. But to be fair, I am more of a Magneto than I am a Dr. Xavier. I do believe that autistics are ‘the next jump in human evolution’ as Magneto says in the first X-men movie after Charles Xavier corners him following a congressional meeting on the Mutant Registration Act.

The problem for our kids is the same as it is for mutants…

So instead of embracing all the wonderful talents, gifts and special abilities that our kids bring to it, society tries to force our square pegs into their round holes. Therapies and interventions whose only goals are to make them act ‘normal.’ Like that is a good thing? Schools whose ideas of ‘mainstreaming’ is to set them up for being bullying by failing to educate those ‘normal’ kids about special needs.

In the end…like Magneto’s motley crew of mutants…too many end up withdrawn, isolated and so damaged that those ‘experts’ actually believe that social anxiety disorders are a part of autism. The truth is that when supported and given a 100% bully free environment, our kids can integrate and assimilate. How do I know? Because PanKwake does it all the time when given the simple accommodations that she needs to address her sensory issues and fixations.

This whole idea that it is our children who have social issues is BULL SHIT. The truth is that society itself is so frightened of anyone who is different that it is the one broken…not our kids. Our kids are strong and beautiful. They see people and society for what it is. They simply refuse to accept those dumb ass rules that are there only because…that’s the way it had always been done.

And that is why society needs them…more than they need it. Because society is broken. It is still trying to follow rules that are a century out of date. That simply no longer apply in the digital, free-thinking world in which we live now. They offer the hope that it needs to keep itself from self-destructing with hatred, greed and hubris. They offer a new understanding.

Only one thing…for them to move into that role…which I believe is why there are so many of them and more being born every day (forget this one in 84 or whatever…I spend enough time on playgrounds…honestly the number is 1 in 4 or so)…is that their parents need to stop stifling them…stop trying to make them fit in the round hole…and help them celebrate being beautifully square.

Here is a bit more of my Magneto wisdom for you, folks…