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Autism: We Are as Diverse as Everyone Else
The simple truth: We’re as diverse as anyone else. Not stereotypes or clichés, but unique individuals with talents, challenges, and love.
Autism is not something you can capture with a single stereotype, label, or medical definition. As an autistic adult, I want to make this clear: we are just as diverse as the rest of society. Yet, this remains a difficult concept for many to grasp.
The Burden of Stereotypes
For most people, autism is personified by characters like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory or Raymond from Rain Man. These portrayals are well-known: the eccentric, brilliant scientist or the “low-functioning” man with a rare talent. But where are the stories of people like me — the autistic mother, the employee, the artist, the unknown soldier, the friend?
We are not walking clichés. We are individuals with a range of lives, talents, and challenges, just like anyone else. The focus on extreme representations does us a disservice. Not every autistic person is a genius with numbers or technology. Not everyone possesses obvious “special powers.” And that’s perfectly fine. We shouldn’t have to fit into a specific mold to be accepted by society.
