Autism explained by 10-year-old Noah Xavier

Guest Writer: Noah Xavier Smits, age 10, Asperger's Syndrome

What is Autism?
by Noah X. Smits

There is a certain combination of characteristics that make up a puzzle, with each autism trait a piece to it. Everybody is missing pieces to this puzzle. This puzzle is autism, and people diagnosed with autism have more pieces than "normal" people. But "normal" people still have some.

The word "autistic" is actually a ranking. This is given to the people who have many pieces to the puzzle. "Normal" people have very few pieces.

The puzzle is a part of your DNA. It works to characterize you. The number of pieces you have is partly what makes you you.

Autism is really publicly known as a disease you get that makes you stupid. It is really what makes up each puzzle piece. Everyone has autism in different amounts.

Nobody has all the puzzle pieces -- if they did, they would be a baseline for autism. Each puzzle piece is one characteristic of autism.

You get to decide if autism is an advantage or a disadvantage. You pick if it's good or bad.

Never mock an autistic person -- remember, you are autistic too. Everyone is.

Autism is such a large category that it includes many different people, from geniuses to people with trouble speaking, from flight attendants to football players, from me to you.

The word "autistic" shouldn't exist because we are all autistic. We're not all the same, but we still have some pieces to the same puzzle:

The puzzle of autism.

Happy 2009, finally!

I read this article today about a recent study that shows (again) that MMR vaccines do NOT cause autism. People ask me all the time what I think about the cause(s) of autism. It's the number one question I get when I tell people my boys are on the spectrum. But I don't have much to say on that subject.

I don't think too much about the causes of autism because I personally don't find it helpful. Instead, my "cause" is to know my own children and help them live in a world they don't easily fit into. For a while I couldn't decide which bandwagon to jump on when every cause seems so urgent and important. But I live with my children. I live with my particular family. I know my children's particular struggles.

That's why I am an advocate for Autism and Asperger's Acceptance. It's not that I WANT to accept autism; it's that I HAVE to. I have these two boys - these spunky, interesting, unique boys - and they need to be accepted. Their entire life may be filled with roadblocks, but I can teach them how to drive around them. People might always find them odd, but I can encourage them to feel secure in who God made them. Noah Xavier and Cameron might always be bothered by certain noises and stimuli, but I can help them cope.

How do YOU feel about acceptance of ASD? Is acceptance another word for "giving up?" Or is it actually a type of freedom? Feel free to leave comments! Please, let's not debate immunizations here. I'm sure there's somewhere else to do that. Thanks!