My Autistic Friend Explains Autism (And Why He's Proud to be Autistic)

if given the option would you want to be Neurotypical? well no because I know being autistic makes me who I am it's not a fatal disease or an illness it makes me who I am and for those who on the spectrum watching this it makes us who we are as a black man on the spectrum do you ever feel underrepresented yeah sometimes I do because like sometimes people think whites are more affected with autism than blacks and that's not true autism affects like every one of the different race not just one race I'm happy I get to be here and make a new friend I'm happy I get to here I make a new friend too how do you feel when you make a new friend I feel like happy all inside and happy that I'm connecting with someone I feel like in connecting with you too like I know I'm different and I appreciate that I'm different but I still do as be treated like any other human being and don't tell me to try to act like a normal person because normal as a setting on a dryer and overall nobody's normal do you want to be normal well no because there is no normal we're all different welcome to SBS K join me as I travel around the world an interview an individual is living with a condition to prove no matter how you communicate or what obstacles you face you're always deserving of love and acceptance so without hesitation let's meet today's friend if you had one wish what would it be well that's really hard to answer because you know what they say be careful what you wish for but what have you had to wish or something well one thing I will wish for is the ability of telepathy what's that telepathy is the ability to read the emotions of another person or another living thing it also be handy if you can to try and tell if a person's lying because he people said I don't know how to handle other people's feelings but I would know how to try to understand what feeling easier how would you describe autism to somebody who never heard of it well I would describe it to them as a neurological disorder that affects a one's ability to socialize and communicate that they think differently and see things differently what is something that scares you well something that scares me is when that something gets too much for me to handle like if if that happens I get meltdowns and stuff and and I'm afraid of failure sometime but I try so hard but if I know I'm gonna fail sometimes I back out but I don't want to be the person to back out anymore I have to tell everybody watching how brave you are because you asked if I would send you a list of all the questions I was gonna ask and I told you that I would prefer not to so it would be more like a conversation why did you want a list of all those questions though because I like to be prepared for what's coming and when I'm not totally prepared for something I get kind of nervous you're doing a great job answering the question spontaneously what about the randomness of the situation can cause you nerves yeah sometimes randomness can cause me nervous and call me a stomachache sometime but I know I have to be brave enough to try because like you don't get tenses like this often and I'm proud of you for trying this and everything I've asked you you knocked it out of the ballpark you're doing fabulous thanks Chris you're welcome that's the best thing about being you that I am brave and so true passing for myself and that I am not afraid to take risks sometime what's the most difficult thing about being you well sometimes things can meet my goals can be hard to reach for and that I don't understand she's also kids and getting carried away when I don't really mean to but I'm trying to learn from my mistakes what are some social cues that are hard for you to pick up on like if someone's offended or getting upset or feels like I'm I'm overwhelming them like sometimes like it's hard to pick up on that when I know I'm just trying to be friendly and be a friend because I like meeting someone new and I know I don't mean to get up on your face but but I'm but I don't mean any harm sometimes when I get excited when I see someone I haven't seen a long time I go up and hug them and I know sometimes I can scare people but I'm trying to work on that I I just wanted them to know I mean no harm I know that a lot of this interview has been talking about what makes you different but that's only so we can educate everybody yes and I know that's the purpose like I've seen a lot of your videos I want you to know that I understand that we're more similar than we are different yeah it might be that little bit that's different but most of what we are we have in common yeah I know like the fact people like to make friends yeah yeah we both like movies oh yeah we do we'd both rather feel happier than sad yeah what are some other things we have in common that I can't really answer but I do know that we're both trying to work this and work together to make a difference and working our way up we both are doing that and I'm proud to be doing that with you and I'm fine it's okay for me hug it is okay thanks for asking I appreciate that you respect my personal boundaries why do you enjoy hugging friends because it makes you feel like you connect with them like they understand you I feel like I understand you like it's like you have a most emotional connection do you enjoy an emotional connection yes I do well I feel like I understand you and I feel like you understand me mm-hmm I feel like the same way and I value our friendship you know I do need to stick together as one and fight for what's right what is right like accepting each other as human beings like that we are different and we are not all born the same because how boring the world would be if we were all born the same difference is what makes the world go round do you want more chances to make friends yes I do I want more chance to make friends to get out there and I know it's hard to put yourself out there but you just gotta try you can't stay in your house your whole life it's just hard for you right now to put yourself out there no it isn't because I when I saw you how are we doing going out of the world I knew this was my chance to really put myself out there to take action and make an effort to make a difference well I'm sure you're gonna make a big difference with this video you made a difference for me already really yeah a big difference listening to you advocate it really has added a lot of value to my life yeah I'm glad you came I'm glad to be here when somebody meets you for the first time what do you hope they think I hope they think that I'm a nice guy who means no harm I hope they know that I am very courageous and brave and not afraid to go up and say hi to people what's the best thing about making a new friend the best thing about making your friend is that you have something in common that you've connected and that he finds someone that can really understand you like like if you find the courage to reach out to people like your on special books by special kids like you might find a company that will support you for the rest of your life and you never know what comfort they can offer you is there anything in your life that you want that you don't have yet well there is nothing I don't know yes like even though I do want a girlfriend like I haven't even figured out myself yet and sometimes you need to be all right step one ehat when you fully figure out yourself like why do you think some couples like split up because like they say that they need to figure out who they are without each other and if it's truly meant to be they'll find their way back to each other have you learned a lot of your life lessons for all media yeah yeah mostly media I pay attention like one of my morals is not to steal one of my morals is not to meddle in the affairs of the heart what does that mean like don't meddle in someone's relationship don't get involved in it I learned that from my Harry Potter you know the love potions they make sometime like I even I know that hey schools shouldn't Melanie for as long because when they do bad things could happen what do you have to work on yourself or whoa I just have to find out my career path and what I want to achieve and know myself before I think about relationships because like how can you get in a relationship or get even married when you don't even know yourself yet because when you do that sometimes things don't go well that's very mature of you I'm proud of you for being here so self-aware you know because I learned that from a lot of drama shows on freeform I still like the Disney Channel which I'm not afraid to admit because like we all like different things and you're not supposed to like something because people tell you're supposed to like like whatever you like and do what makes you happy like life is too short we got come together like sister and brothers and love and support each other how can the people watching at home come together as your sister and brothers just reach out to me and start a conversation with me and don't be shy because like we need to come together as one and bring more acceptance of autism and other disabilities in this world what was high school like for you well high school was kind of hard and good at the same time like I had friends to talk to and stuff like but sometimes I feel like like it was hard because sometimes I was often turned away or people would ignore me and I really didn't understand why and I'd to ask myself what I was doing wrong and I always struggled is why I couldn't maintain or keep the friends I wanted to popularity contests they can make others feel bad and just so you know like making us feel bye because they're not popular it's horrible and people should learn that being popular does not mean everyone likes you and I mean I try to learn that lesson one time when I try to be popular judge so more people like me but I had to learn that I to just be me I don't have to be like everyone else and who cares if I'm not an AP or gifted classes we all learn it on pace and we succeed in our own ways I'm proud of you for accepting who you are you know I am to throw this one time I was nominated for homecoming court in my junior year and see people nominated me because I thought I were we're good but I heard that few people nominated me as a joke and that's when I realized that homecoming can be kind of sometimes good and sometimes not because having a popularity contest like that could make others feel bad and I think these popularity contests can really so demeaning and stuff and superlatives like most likely to succeed most class clown or so and sometimes they're good but sometimes they can make others feel bad like being compared and all this comparison can cause really big conflicts what's the most misunderstood thing about autism that we can't feel or feel empathy or feel love for any anything do you feel emotions yeah every emotion yeah I feel I'm your most unlike happiness sadness anger grief or chavos sometimes see people on the spectrum as weird and too different but regardless of our diagnosis we're still human beings just like everyone else why do you think neurotypical people have a hard time understanding autistic people well I guess it's because they act differently and think differently than they do but they have to understand that regardless of our diagnosis that were human just like they are I was diagnosed with that when I was three years old like even before I knew I was diagnosed I always knew I was different oh I always felt like the oddball outside my peers like sometimes I was turned away or people would ignore me and I had to ask myself the question like what am I doing wrong how can people help you by trying to be more understanding that talked me through that I just had to how I can be a friend and just say what you're comfortable with and I don't know so you're okay with people just verbalizing their thoughts and maybe if they're feeling overwhelmed saying hey I just need a little bit of space I'll talk to you tomorrow yeah I'll need to understand that because I'll give you a space and I just find something to do to occupy my time even though I feel upset and even though I might not always like what I hear like I just have to hear it because whether you like it or not you have to hear what other people have to say and sometimes I'm not good at first impressions and stuff because sometimes I get excited whenever to find something which I haven't so much in common with and sometimes I get carried away I'm with that and I'm not afraid to admit my faults that sometimes I'm curious and impulsive and sometimes my emotions get the better of me sometime when I feel like no one's listening to me but I'm lucky to have friends that love me still regardless of my flaws if you just made a new friend and could do anything what would you want to do with them well I would take him out to lunch we would go out to a movie what kind of movie like it depends on what we both can agree on I like family movies I like Disney movies I like action movies and sometimes comedy and if they like something else like if the team same thing all we have to do is just compromise because I don't like to think that my ideas are better than the others this poem is called humility for disability and it's about accepting other people with disabilities and it's not just about autism but others with Down syndrome or any other disability that affects them you ready I'm ready we are not all born the same how born the world would be being different is the best thing makes us a lot more free there are some that are very different disabilities here and there they are still human beings treat them equally and fair everyone is affected differently can be mild to severe still don't has a safe to say hi no need to live in fear don't refuse to get to know someone we shouldn't have a set view regardless of their diagnosis they're still just like you we should have the hearts to come together like sister and brother our feelings are all the same love and support each other that's a beautiful poem thank you for sharing hmm I'm glad I did sometimes I'm afraid I'm gonna mess up people with things like this and that's my internal struggle but I know I'm gonna keep trying I know that everyone makes mistakes and sometimes you can come back from it you just gotta keep trying and push through thanks for watching it's our mission to show that the world is a better place when everyone has the opportunity to be part of it if you want to support that click the big yellow SBS K button to subscribe thank you and we'll see you next time

Channel: Special Books by Special Kids

Views: 508,934

Keywords: Autism, Autistic, Self-Advocate, Adult, SBSK, Chris Ulmer, Special Books by Special Kids

Id: 6ko5gyFwtf8

Length: 15min 59sec (959 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 24 2018