What Does Autism Look Like?

If you want to know what an autistic child looks like, look at your own child or grandchild.

Look at the children who live next door to you and take a glimpse at every child you walk past on the street. These could very well be the faces of autism. There is no visible indication that a child is affected by this disturbing neurological disorder.

Autism is the king of all tricksters. I know this to be true because whenever my husband and I take our son to the store or doctor’s office, the looks of disgust we receive in response to his unruly behavior never let up. Unless we inform someone, and we always have to, no one has a clue that he is autistic.

When our ten requests for Darius to “settle down” won’t get through to him, when he is climbing on chairs or is having a screaming fit, people continue to stare through us with questions of, “Why won’t they do something about him?” or “If that were my child I’d really handle him.”

From time to time, I find myself getting upset about the glares from individuals who would never think autism is the culprit. There have even been occasions when I’ve had to get a little nasty with those brave souls who dared to make a rude comment or stare for just a little longer than necessary. But, after all of the annoyance and rude exchanges, autism still lingers. It seems to me the only thing left to do is educate rather than disassociate.

So, what exactly is autism? A lot of people I’ve crossed paths with have no clue as to what this disorder is and are quick to misconstrue the meaning of autistic with ‘artistic’.
Autism doesn’t have anything to do with the arts; our children are extremely talented, but artistic and autistic are two different things.