Definition of Autism

As an autism mom, I'm grateful for this definition I found of autism last night in the current book I am reading, How to be a Sister: A Love Story with a twist of Autism.  She expressed in words what I have felt so many times.  In truth, I have been sad about my children's diagnoses for a long time.  I love them for who they are, and love who they are, but it is so hard to know what is in their heads and to truly know them.  It is hard to look at their lives and see how much harder it is for them to navigate this world than it is for the rest of us.

The author, Eileen Garvia, expressed what so many of us who love someone affected with autism feel.
"For people who have autism, the disorder is a burden or a challenge, something to overcome, or perhaps not. A battle against the outer world, a system.  Autism is the lack, the missing elements of empathy and intuition that allow people to connect with others.  It's a different life colored by the expectations of other people that autism means magical ability or stupidity.  Autism is a trap or a safe haven.  It's a world of loneliness and isolation and a place of creativity.  It's a bull's-eye that makes a person a target for abuse or a yardstick of accomplishment through improvement.  Maybe it's a defining feature of a personality or just one characteristic of the many complexities that make up a person.  Every life is different."