Mr. Cosby and Autism

I saw the Larry King show on autistics and the initiative to help autistic children and to correct autism. It’s excellent that Mr. Cosby, a teacher who has knowingly and unknowingly through his comedy, his cartoons, his television shows, his books taught many autistic children (and adults).

I mention adults because it is necessary to involve autistic adults in this effort for autistic children.

There are many autistic adults that only learned about their autism when they became adults. Some autistic adults don’t even know they are autistic. However, this initiative is helping many to discover that they are autistic and are in the autistic spectrum and/or have autistic sensibilities.

Because of the internet many autistic people are organizing themselves such as autistic.org. Many are writing and expressing their thoughts on autism and many other subjects.

These autistic adults who are able to speak and/or write should be involved in this effort on behalf of autistic children.

It is important for the parents of autistics such as Toni Braxton and Gary Cole to know that their children are autistic. It is important for educators to know this also. It is important for other children who communicate with or try to communicate with autistic children to know that these children are autistic. Many autistics who people don’t know are autistics are often ridiculed and thought stupid. Of course we ridicule everybody, but many of these children are highly intelligent children, they just have problems communicating with the spoken word, the written word, and/or problems in normal social communications. Many of these children and adults know that something is wrong, but they are not sure. Their parents are not sure. Their teachers are not sure.

Many have learned in normal classrooms with normal children–I shall call them normal. Many teachers have taught them very well, even not knowing that they are autistics. Many autistics can have extraordinary gifts–autistics can become actors, writers, teachers, musicians, mathematicians just like others. Many autistics for generations who have not known this nor their teachers have learned just like others. Many autistics throughout the generations have been “destroyed” also, because people did not recognize them as autistics. Some have been wrongfully treated and even wrongfully institutionalized. Some have tried to get along with “ordinary people” and often find that impossible to understand them, likewise the impossibility to understand these autistics. Many misread them, and likewise. Many ethnic autistics because of the problem of stereotyping in general, are misread and misinterpretated and miseducated. Many in the ethnic communities do not even know they are autistic either. Autistics, parents and educators of these ethnic communities might consider writing booklets especially addressed to their communities in helping with these problem and written in association with experts. Some ethnic communities simply accept autistics as different and educate them with everybody else.