What I mean is people on the spectrum may face the treatment or discrimination equivalent to “Don’t excuse me for your autism!” when he or she’s having a meltdown dismissing it as “bad behavior” when it’s not. It becomes difficult from childhood if schools aren’t catered on accommodating this demographic, they’re considered normal physically but their outlook on life is different from their neurotypical counterparts.
Classroom teachers may not be trained to deal with such even if they’re told in advance, leading to mistaking meltdowns or being upset as “bad behavior” since it’s an additional challenge as opposed to teaching kids who are not Autistic. Some parents also tell their Autistic kid to “control your emotions” or “wipe those tears away” to avoid public humiliation (if kid causes a scene) including possible neurotypical onlookers & gossipers.
When kids have a tantrum at public settings (like malls or parks) or confined spaces (like inside a plane), this becomes taxing for parents on raising the kid while enduring awkward moments from onlookers who gossip “tell your child to shut up”. Having parents who understand is better than being ignorant even when informed, as parents who understand are likely to defend when their neurodivergent kid is being discriminated against.
There’s more info about Autistic kids than grown ups (what they fail to realize is that Autistic kids become adults over time, basically having to co-exist with it for the rest of their lives). Wearing a mask is temporary but not the permanent solution to the root cause of societal misunderstanding. Does it stem from the fact that physical ailments (crouches or wheelchairs) are visible in front of their eyes than neurodivergent people?
As in, they would not push someone on a wheelchair since that’s their method of mobility but feel fine on discriminating someone who is neurodivergent. They are not comparable in that sense, since a wheelchair bound person has a physical ailment while someone on the spectrum is able bodied. It could be that there are legal consequences for mistreating someone with a physical ailment versus a neurodivergent person.
I think it is hard for many people to accept that people experience the world in a different way than they do. It is also easier to believe in bad people and bad kids than to try and understand why they are behaving a certain way.
Sometimes I think people are angry they were forced to conform to social norms, so they are not open to a kinder way for others. If they could “behave”, these other people are just lazy!
I do think people with visible physical disabilities still have to deal with folks not understanding that means there are certain things they can’t do without support. Some people are really that hard to get to.
Yeah. Wheel chair users are a good example. If you can’t leave the wheel chair at all, then it’s acceptable. But if you have the ability to walk short periods without it’s all the sudden “you’re faking”.
Same with if you have some vision but your vision is heavily impaired. Or if you’re hard of hearing but only in a certain range.
We just don’t hear about it as often when people have physical disabilities.