Some people just want to free us from the prison of our mind

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If someone actually comes out and Tells me what they mean, I understand them just fine. If they're playing mind games with me or trying to send subtle signals, they might as well not bother, because I'll never notice. I always tell it like it is, and I tend to interact best with other people who communicate in an honest, straightforward manner. Sometimes if I'm not sure how to accurately put my thoughts on a topic into words that they will understand, I'll just stop and stare at nothing in particular while I think about how to say something, and it weirds people out. Especially if I'm thinking for long time. It's not that I'm imprisoned in my mind in those situations. To me, that's just plain old thinking. I am not one to spit out an idea half-baked, or try to BS my way through something I don't know. However, by the time I'm done thinking, the other people will have moved on to another topic. And then I am in the awkward situation of having a mind that is now chock full of awesome things to say on a topic that died several minutes ago. This typically results in either a rather awkward attempt at resurrecting the dead topic, or filing away the awesome things in my mind for future reference. In general, I have a strong tendency to not be on the same page as other people. Sometimes I'm not even in the same book.

Willard, would it kill you to grow up a little?

I know exactly what you mean. I often feel that I am locked in my mind, unable to interact with other people and sometimes not even with the world. Im not sure that a severely autistic child would feel this though - I feel it because I am so high functioning that I am aware of the 'social world' out there and its worth to other people, but most of the time I cant access it, I am almost always apart and alone. But I have experienced it occasionally, and this makes me want it more than if I had never experienced it. I realise that I am missing something, something that has made me happy when I have had it.

I have to agree with Daniel on this one. I'm interning as a speech therapist in a school for kids with autism, and nearly all the kids on my caseload are severely autistic, with little to no functional communication (at the ages of 6-13). There is a difference between a kid with Asperger's or HFA who is not very socially communicative, and a twelve year old who does not appear to respond to any outside auditory input, has no speech, only one sign, and requires full physical assistance (meaning you take your hand and manipulate their hand) to do things as elementary as pointing to a picture. An average ten month old has greater range of ability and communication. She appears to sleepwalk through her day, almost never taking any initiative to interact with her environment. That is a kid who *does* appear to be locked inside herself.

I have this feeling as well. Apart and alone, no matter the company. I would say I am locked in my mind, but the cell I'm in has a window-wall. Occasionally I amble to breach the translucent barrier separating me from the world. But never for very long. To breach the austism barrier is heavenly. There is peace, joy, clarity and absolute contentment. But it never lasts.

Obviously this “advertisement” uses a representation (not very accurate to start with) of a subset of the spectrum population and leaves the impression that this is representative of the whole of the autistic experience. Just shows what happens when money is given to groups who are run by people, which for the most part do not have a clue. Anyone know who the “sponsoring” organization was?

bookwormde

There is no such subset, no child, no matter how autistic, has another child locked inside. And that is the imagery displayed that some of us are 'lamenting' against. But if you prefer so, feel free to enjoy the rejection and look forward to being 'broken' open and have that imaginary child released.

I think it's a great ad. It's unpleasant and uncomfortable to look at, but I think that was the intention. I'm not offended by it 'cause it obviously doesn't apply to me. If this ad applied to you, bookworm, you woud not be reading this message. If this ad applied to you, your eyes would be glazed-over, slack-jawed, and your diaper would be smelly.

Get over it.

Be thankful that you are not severely impaired.

I have to agree with Daniel on this one. While I have significant issues trying to express what's in mind, it's certainly not trapped. I've never experienced that and I don't want to.

The thing that disturbs me though is what is this ad for? "Get my son out before it's too late" sounds like the premise for some sort of video game, though I hope that surely they wouldn't make a game like that.

Maybe they mean early intervention? Early intervention can make a huge difference for a lot of kids.

But unless they can truly find a 'cure' for Autism and ASD, from the autistic child's perspective, all of the speech therapists, special ed programs, forced interaction with others, dependency on people for the rest of his life, it wouldn't make too much of a difference; if you're born that way, wouldn't it kind of make sense to shut everything out if you're in your own world? Making progress simply for the sake of progress without consideration to the comfort level of the autistic seems almost backward.

If you were LFA, how would you feel constantly being hustled about to this and that therapist, forced interaction, people trying to change your behavior dramatically- no wonder most autistic kids are in their own world, that's their only escape from parents and teachers who may consider them 'failures' without knowing what color a fire truck is. I can kind of see the viewpoint of parents who want their kid to have an easier life, but if they can't be independent even with hordes of therapy, then I don't really see a point in forcing LFA into activities which they visibly show to dislike. But I wouldn't know what it's like to have a kid with special needs, so my views don't really apply to this.

I can relate a bit though, my mom and siblings are always trying to change who I am; I hate shopping and dresses, ect, but they keep trying to force it on me when all I want to do is go outside and look at trees and plants and just do MY THING. It's frustrating feeling like you should be obligated to change your behaviors in order to suit someone else's view of how one should be. If I were LFA, I'd just want to be left to my devices since interaction would probably make me extremely uncomfortable, no matter how much was forced upon me, but then again, I would probably be dependent on someone for housing needs, ect.

I just have mixed feelings- it could have been portrayed in a better manner, though, instead of a race against time! Dramatica!

If the person doesn't talk then how do you know their dumb?

There is no "dumb".At least not with kids with autism.

Dumb is like stupid teenagers doing meth for fun, it's not a person with cognitive issues and autism trying to make sense of the world.

What the hell?!

"before it's too late" makes us sound like a bomb threat.

Well, the goal is that the kid will at least develop the skills necessary to carry out some activities of daily living (toileting, dressing, etc.). Some kids are also taught skills like washing dishes or sweeping so that they can work in a supervised environment.

The idea is to teach the kid whatever they are able to learn.

I do sometimes feel that once a kid has gotten to a certain age without any real change, that therapy should be at least reduced, if not ended. But that would be kind of like giving up on the kid- no parent would want that. Sure, a kid might be happier sitting in a room listening to music all day and being completely dependent on others for all care, but all parents hope for their kids to gain at least some level of independence or communication.

This looks like its aimed at the other end of the autistic spectrum, I don't feel like I am locked
away in a imaginary prison, and I don't think the majority of Aspies feel this way either.

I certainly don't feel locked away. I feel like I'm going places and seeing things.

How do you know that?