Autism Heroes
“I am a hero and I am destined for greatness”
?Someone very dear to me, an adult and on the spectrum, said this to me within the first month of us meeting.
?Such statements, made as a child, were met with eye-rolls. I guess the crassness of their child voicing all our innermost desire to be special and awe-inspiring was too much for their parents to handle.
As a child, their condition went undiagnosed. As a high functioning neurodivergent, they were considered very intelligent but a bit off the normal. Words used to describe them were unpredictable, quick to trigger and self-absorbed amongst others characteristics.
Instead they were told to stop sounding silly. To focus on being a hero in terms of their academics, their earning capability, the position they would hold in life. Will they find a good partner because they weren’t good at relationships?
The need to be a hero is intrinsic. We all crave it and try to be so in small, big, quiet or spectacular ways.
But to live in a condition that is divergent and at times debilitating and yet honestly and openly state your longing for the best that life has to offer, not because of the material essence of it, but because they want to simply be the agents of change of their lives, is true heroism.
领英推荐
Here’s to those who do not adhere to the construct of a cultural-hero. Not the highly moral heroes of our myths to guide them or the struggling farmer's toils providing for a family to emulate, they need to construct their own structure of heroism.?
And it reflects their own human worth. Built on their beliefs and hopes, these heroes leave a lasting impact of their world on us.
--
Devi Mani
Founder & CEO