People can say some really insensitive things when confronted with autism. At first these comments offended me, but over time I’ve begun to see the humor in them. So I started a collection, along with the sarcastic responses that I wish I could make aloud.
This is the fifth in a series. You can find the first list here, the second one here, the third list here, and the fourth list here.
Enjoy!
- If you were married, you could provide her some structure and fix this mess.
Actually, she has more structure now than when I was married. And how is my marital status going to “fix” autism? - I wish I had that much energy!
Yeah, so do I. If we could bottle it, it would solve the world’s energy problems. - You are such a great mom! (Said without having seen me interact with Katie.)
You have no idea how I parent. I wish you and other strangers would stop praising me simply because I have an autistic child. - Let me have her for a week. I’ll straighten her right out.
Great! I could really use a vacation. When can I drop her off? - Maybe you could pay kids in the neighborhood to play with her.
Because obviously no one would want to play with her simply because they liked her. - She’s not reading yet? You’re too easy on her.
Yes, that must be it. Maybe if I gave more timeouts she’d start to understand abstract concepts like letters. - Oh, my typical child does that too.
Yeah. Your child accidentally cut off a chunk of her hair—ONCE. Mine does it whenever she gets a pair of scissors in her hands (ie, whenever there’s an art project at school). She cuts it right down to the scalp. Your child outgrew that behavior long ago; so far, mine has not. - You’d never know she was one of “them.”
Them? Is there a club? - Ah, but it’s so cute when she runs around like that.
Well, yeah, she is cute. But how many people will think it’s cute when she’s 22 years old and can’t sit still? - She’s so lucky to have you.
I’m lucky to have her too. Autism has taught me a lot of things I never would have learned any other way.
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
Love your responses here Cynthia! I’m reminded – in a small & different way – about my thought processes when my daughter had breast cancer & the comments I got (not to mention the ones *she* got).
I imagine she (and you) received some incredible comments during that experience as well. I hadn’t really intended to post so many of these comments (and my unarticulated responses) but for whatever reason, people seem to love them. Or maybe like you they are responding to my responses. I hadn’t thought of that.
In any case, I’ve got a sixth post in this series, and then I’m all tapped out! Glad you enjoyed the post.