BY AIZA DELA CRUZ
“AUTISM is uniqueness and difference personified,” Amanda J. Friedman, special education teacher and founder of Atlas Foundation for Autism, said.
Autism is often seen as a disability, and people on the autism spectrum are often viewed as less than “normal” or lacking than an average person. This is an outdated and incorrect way of thinking.
Here are some autistic people who rose above the stigma and misconception to prove that autism is being different but not less:
1. Temple Grandin – Grandin is most well-known for her work about understanding autism, shedding light on how an autistic person’s brain works, with her books Emergence, Thinking in Pictures, and The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum. She is one of the top scientists in Animal Science who revolutionized the livestock industry with her innovations on animal welfare and handling equipment. Currently, she is a professor at the Colorado State University teaching Animal Science.
Her life as an autistic was portrayed in a movie titled after her in 2010. She did not speak until she was about four years old, but now she is a famous speaker for both autism and animal behavior.
2. Satoshi Tajiri – Satoshi is the creator of Pokemon. He is a Japanese video game designer who took his childhood hobby, insect collecting, as the inspiration for the popular game. His intense interest in insects even earned him the moniker Dr. Bug when he was a child.
He dreamed of becoming an entomologist, but he became fascinated with arcades and video games. He then pursued his passion by studying electronics and computer science at the Tokyo National College of Technology.
3. Greta Thunberg – Greta is a Swedish environmental activist who challenged world leaders to take immediate action against climate change. She was known for her straightforward way of speaking and for speaking out her mind to the point of criticizing and being angry at world leaders. Her advocacy has earned her numerous honors and awards, including the youngest Time “Person of the Year” and was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
She was eight years old when she heard about climate change and could not understand why it was not given importance. She became depressed and was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (under the Autism Spectrum Disorder), obsessive-compulsive disorder, and selective mutism. Her condition drove her to take action by starting her “School Strike for Climate” outside the Swedish Parliament when she was 15 years old. Greta acknowledges her diagnosis and even called it her “superpower”.
4. Tim Chan – Chan is a 25-year-old Chinese Australian who has been inspiring autistics, especially the non-speaking around the world. He was diagnosed when he was three years old with severe autism and has been non-speaking after 14 months of age. He communicates through partner-assisted typing. Despite this, he graduated from mainstream schools and is now studying sociology and political science at a university in Australia. He has published his autobiography Back from the Brink with his mother. He gave a TEDTalk when he was 18 and continues to advocate for autism.
5. Elon Musk – Regarded by many as the “real-life Iron Man,” Musk is a billionaire who founded SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and OpenAI, and is the chief executive officer of Tesla, Inc. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in economics and physics. He developed an interest in computing and video games when he was 10 years old. When he was 12, he sold a code for a video game he created.
According to interviews, he was an awkward and introverted child. He was also sometimes ridiculed for his monotonous speaking and outlandish ideas and statements. He recently revealed that he has Asperger’s while hosting the Unites States comedy show Saturday Night Live.
These people are just a few of the many autistic people out there who are successfully making a name for themselves, achieving things, and blazing trails for new and advanced ideas, defying the stigma, and stereotypes of autism.
I enjoin everyone to have more compassion and understanding for all children with different abilities.
I would also like to hear the experiences of other parents who have children on the autism spectrum. You may email me at genevieveaiza.delacruz@gmail.com. I am a member of the Autism Society Philippines (ASP), a national non-profit organization dedicated to the well-being of persons on the autism spectrum disorder./PN
