One day when my daughter Abby was about 8 I asked her to come into my office as I had something very important to tell her.
This was a big secret and it was up to her if she decided to tell anyone else.
Not even her triplet siblings knew this secret.
I sat her down and explained that she had a superpower called “autism”.
This meant that her brain was wired differently to a typical brain, which meant she could still learn everything the same, it was just done in a different way.
She had the ability to access parts of her brain that neurotypical people couldn’t. She had a phenomenal memory and that she was able to view the world in a unique way that most other people never would.
“Woahhhhh I knew something was different!!!
Does Dad know?
”Yes”
“Do Poppy and Gus have super powers?”
“No”
“Ok we need to go and tell them straight away”
Abby embraced her autism from that very moment.
She went to school the next day and announced it to the whole class.
When she started drama lessons and had to say something interesting about yourself, she proudly stated that she had autism.
She would tell anyone that she could be bothered talking to … as long as they didn’t ask any questions and just let her talk about what she wanted to talk about.
When she had to paint a picture of herself for art she included the words “autism super powers”.
She wore her autism like a badge of honour.
Until one day when the school sent home a form for me to complete…At the top of the form was the word “DISABILITY” in big bold writing and underneath was her name.
Abby opened the envelope herself, read the word “DISABILITY” and said to me:
“Mum why is my name on this? What disability do I have?”
And in that moment I could feel my heart tearing apart.
All those years of hard work being ruined by one little word.
So I told her:
Nothing is either good or bad, it just is.
We get to decide what feelings, emotions, thoughts, ideas, opportunities, obstacles and words that we’re going to associate with anything.
You have autism.
I choose to believe that is a superpower.
Some people choose to believe that is a disability.
Now you can either choose to believe them or you can choose to believe me …. But I’d just like to mention that I’m never wrong… just ask Dad.
Tomorrow is world autism day and we will be celebrating Abby and her superpowers.
I suggested a picnic in the park with healthy homemade treats and a nice stroll out to King Island.
She has chosen an extra hour of IPad time, hot chips for dinner and ice cream with chocolate mix ins for dessert.