This writing is dedicated to those who understand the autistic people of this world to be unique and special, and who would not want them any other way.

The Autistic Plea for Understanding

Why do you look upon me the way you do,
you who see me as a standout.

When you look upon me,
you see someone who cannot think or know about
What it means to learn and to love,
you see me as having a disease that needs
To be cured, or as having been poisoned by a heavy metal,
you search desperately
For a cause, someone to blame, for I present a great cost
a gift that has become a burden.

To you, I seem unresponsive and in constant need,
and you want what you think is best for me,
to return me to whom I was before I changed,
the normal person that I was at birth.

By your fears you do not see,
that this is what I was meant to be.
I have great potential,
a mind that can set endless focus on a single task,
though I may seem unable to ask for help when I am in difficulty,
and I do not socialize
as you expect me to, it is not a fault of mine.

Open your eyes, and you may see that I am not diseased,
nor have I been poisoned,
and this fault you see is but a part of the whole of me.

See not only the muddy roots but also the beautiful blossom,
for I do not need a cure.

I need help to be sure,
but come to see the whole of me,
and then you can truly say that you love me.

Thomas O. Willcox, III

***

Diagnosed with Asperger’s at age 12, Tom is 30, living independently, and working in healthcare technology.