Autism: Our Freedom Fighters

Regarding children with Autism... the "spiritual" interpretation of autism is that they are "indigo". This refers to a "violet" tinge that you might see on photos. On the surface, children with autism are seen to be "difficult." Uneducated people say these children are "spoiled" or "belong in an institution". They say that the "indigo" label was created by new-age parents to somehow glorify a mental illness.

Autism manifests in random ways - it is different for every child. For this reason it is difficult to diagnose, and is often mis-diagnosed as another "mental illness," or is not diagnosed because parents "take it personally" when someone suggests that their child is anything but "normal." In a few famous cases, the children are "disowned" by their parents and institutionalized in a mental hospital. "That is not my child."

Some children go into a catatonic state, they "freeze up" or they have MAJOR tantrums. Sometimes the tantrum involves physically harming themselves or anyone within reach. They might have repetitive behaviors, and often have a hard time "fitting in" with their peers. They might have speech impairments, they can be extremely sensitive to sounds, and also can be sensitive "visually" to different things. There is currently no known "scientific" cause - but clinical research points to a combination of certain factors - including vaccinations, genetic disposition, and environmental factors (for example, food allergies).

There is a difference between "high functioning" and "low functioning" autism. High functioning means they can deal with most things in life but have "strange" behavior patterns. Or they might be considered "normal" but they might have a tantrum every once in awhile (something random might set them off). Whether or not they are high or low functioning, they tend to be extremely intelligent. They develop extreme interest in certain topics, and might have a "natural talent" in certain areas. Low functioning autism is similar to above, except often they have an extreme speech impediment or can't talk at all. They tend to be "locked in" to a certain repetitive behavior. They may have a physical disability.

My position / realization on this is that, regardless of their diagnosis, children with autism are here to RESIST. What are they resisting? Well, pretty much EVERYTHING to do with the old paradigm. Who are they resisting? Their parents, their doctors, their teachers, and anyone else who continues to exhibit "old paradigm" behavior.

From this perspective, "treatment" might be to expose them to "new paradigm" behavior. A good example of this is "parallel play". Instead of discipline and punishment, you might give them choices, so they know they are in control. Instead of yelling at them (this will get you nowhere), understand that they are doing this for YOUR benefit, not theirs. They are here to teach YOU, because the old ways of doing things are no longer valid. Time to try something new.

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.” - Jim Morrison

These are our freedom fighters... and they are fighting a revolution to free us all.