As an autisic person myself I have dealt with ableist students who make fun of me and other
people with disabilities like autism and ADHD.
There are questions people ask like “But what is autism?” and “What does it do?” The Oxford Languages Dictionary describes it as a “a neurodevelopmental condition of variable severity with lifelong effects that can be recognized from early childhood, chieffly characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behavior.”
Some students make fun of people with autism by saying that it will rub it off on them. These types of people also call some students with autism the “r” word and make weird noises to mock people with autism.
However, autism does not mean low intelligence because Albert Einstein, who was one of the greatest mathticisan of our time, was autistic. This is also the case for Isaac Newton and Henry Cavendish. In fact Isaac Newton seems to be the earliest known person with any form of autism. But why are these people important, you may be asking? Henry Cavendish discovered the chemical hydrogen, which was important for the periodic table which made it have the number “1”. Isaac Newton is important because he discovered the laws of motion and gravity which explained how objects moved.
One thing you need to know; however, is that autism and ADHD are not the same thing.
Psychiatry.org descripes Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as one of the most common mental disorders affecting children. Symptoms of ADHD include inattention (not being able to keep focus), hyperactivity (excess movement that is not fitting to the setting) and impulsivity (hasty acts that occur in the moment without thought). Many people with Autism also have ADHD, but there are also people with only ADHD because there are also many other people who we believed to have had ADHD: Thomas Edison, who was the most famous inventor in history had 1093 patents and Leonardo da Vinci, who was an incredibly creative artist and inventor are both also believed to have had ADHD.
But are austim and ADHD considered disorders? The simple anwser is no for autism because it’s a developmental condition that affects how you see the world and how you interact with other people. And just like anyone else, autistic people can have great or good mental health but these people can still often experience some mental health problems. ADHD is considered a neurological disorder but not a disability.
Not every person here at Falls Church sees people with disabilities in a negative light. All of the teachers help students who have autism or ADHD and understand them. However, some of the students sometimes act really insentitve to disabled people.
So other students should make an attempt to see people with autism and ADHD in a more positive light and treat them with more kindness and think before you speak meanly to them.
