I have always cringed when someone would label my son, and I include myself for I labeled him as well. It made things “easier”to explain things. My son is complex. He doesn’t need a label. He is Chase, and he is autistic with sensory processing issues.
Someone asked Emma what she’d recommend they say in answer to the question, “how high functioning is your child?”
Emma wrote, “I recommend being patient with them and saying that functioning labels will almost always give the wrong idea to those who are trying to understand.”
I have thought about Emma’s response a great deal since she wrote it and asked her if it would be okay to write a bit more about this, specifically in relation to some of the issues Emma confronts on a daily basis. Emma gave me permission.
“Red car, red truck, red car, red car, red car, red truck, red backpack, red car, red car, red car, red car, red truck, red van, red car…” Emma said as we drove to the airport yesterday.
It is inaccurate to say Emma does not speak. She does speak and her words are accurate in that we…
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Coloring Outside The Lines 