[Sang to the tune of Walk like an Egyptian] Think like an autistic….

Most of the time I’m trying to either see the world from my son’s standpoint or another child with autism. Most of the time someone is asking me why does he do that or why does she act like that or why doesn’t he want to do this? Most of the time, I spend my day thinking like an autistic.

Now, I’m a parent of a child with autism so guess what—I’ve got traits. I’ve got some inner autistic to tap into to some degree. I’ll never fully understand what my son or another child is feeling, experiencing, thinking, or wanting because they are different people with different minds and different experiences. But that doesn’t stop me from trying to understand life from the autistic perspective.

This past month I have visited several schools and talked to children of all ages about what it means to be autistic and the one theme that has emerged over and over is this: we have more similarities than differences. If we understand the differences and the reasoning behind those and focus on the similarities we begin to bridge a gap that has been far too big for far too long.

We have all felt alone and pushed to the fringes at least once in our lives.

We have all had trouble finding the right words at the right time.

We are all really good at some things and really crappy at others.

We have all been depressed and think we can’t do anything right.

We have all been misunderstood at some point in our life.

We have all said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

We have all felt awkward and out of place.

We all have something that we really love.

We have all been bullied and picked on.

We all have things that drive us crazy.

We all cherish that quiet time alone.

We all learn in a different way.

We are all people.

By no means, do I want to diminish the struggle that individuals with autism face every single day--these are all very significant challenges to the autistic person. Yet we need to realize that people with autism are not so alien, are not so far away, are not so different. Value these similarities, embrace the similarities, reach out to the autism community and bridge the gap. Put your heads together in making a world that values people of all types, of all abilities, of all types of thinking and being. Step outside yourself and see life from another perspective. Although you may never truly understand what life is like to be a person with autism, you can still try—you can still find some common ground. Think like an autistic more often and value life in all its forms and beauty.