I don’t have a medical degree, but I used to read the back of cereal boxes, which in the current political landscape appears to be the same thing.
So last week’s headlines made me feel two very different things: outright anger and then amusement, because you can’t fix stupid, but you can laugh at it.
Tylenol didn’t make my child autistic. I didn’t make my child autistic. My God doesn’t make “mistakes.” Does yours?
I am the mother of two smart, kind, educated and empathetic humans, both of whom are employed and contribute positively to their communities, one of whom is neurodivergent (that’s a big word for autistic) and one of whom is neurotypical (a fancy term for “normal”). I am confident that I took Tylenol at least once during both of their pregnancies. And yet, they are unique individuals with different abilities and challenges. Huh?
Ignorance is bliss, but when you spread it, it’s just manure. I have spent my daughter’s lifetime educating others and advocating for her, getting her to a place of confidence where she can advocate for herself. And I will spend the rest of my life doing so, because I am her mother.
But I can’t protect her in a world gone haywire, so I have to say, I was proud of her reaction to the headlines about the President of the United States rolling off medical advice, targeting one pharmaceutical brand (which clearly didn’t donate to his campaign). Weren’t his backers the people who didn’t want the government involved in medical advice during a global pandemic?
My daughter is an adult now. Gainfully employed. Pays her own bills. An investor. A talented performer. A volunteer in her community. An empathetic woman who breaks the stereotypes of autism by taking care of the most vulnerable of our citizens.
She’s also someone who sees through people’s façades with astounding accuracy. Someone whose independence increases with every life victory that so many of us take for granted. I could not be more proud. I respect the way she faces every challenge – and believe me, those can be exhausting, both for her and those who support her.
I wasn’t sure how she would feel about these headlines and to be honest, I’d hoped it would blow over and she’d miss the drama. Nothing like being reminded on a global scale that the world sees you as “defective” and your peers spent your youth letting you know you were “different.”
I can’t protect her from her newsfeed, but this showed me I don’t need to. Her response was on point. She found the humour in it, sharing memes with us and laughing about the “science” behind this ridiculous announcement. Autism doesn’t mean dumb. Remember that.
What she didn’t feel, but I had to stop myself from pursuing, was the sadness that autism was displayed as being negative, bad, something to avoid, to be rid of. That’s just gross. So gross.
If we’re going to use labels, I have a few for the perpetrators of hate and misinformation, but we won’t print them here. Sticks and stones. We’re better than that.
But I bet an autistic person could fix an escalator.
