A Positive Note about Autism

Questions and comments about autism are always tendered in terms of what is wrong with it, never what is right with it. I would like to start my journal by taking time to tell what is good about autism.

We are all children of God. Autists carry a heavy burden, but also a decided advantage. Life is a matter of service and also appreciation. The autist appreciates things as simple gifts. We do not need elaborate structure or sense enhancements to see the beauty that surrounds us.

My name, Michael, means “is of god”. We are all “of God”, even me with all my perceived imperfections. Assumptions as to perfection are wrong. Perfection is as to the whole of God’s plan, not the individual pieces. We are as pieces in a huge puzzle, each interlocking with others. What I lack, another completes. Only by our omissions do we connect. To be complete would be to need no one. God loved us enough to give a son as a piece of himself to complete us so we can rejoin him in the end. Service is how we complete each other. Appreciation is our giving thanks.