After reading this article, I do have some of my thoughts to share. What people with Asperger syndrome really need is more attention while communicating, acceptance, and understanding. If people adhere to these qualities, there will be no concern of these people getting bullied, or not being accepted in society. Of course, however, the world is never that perfect. People come from different cultural backgrounds and recieve different kinds of education.
After interviewing the caretaker of Kanner foundation, an association responsible for providing various services to people with Asperger and other syndromes relating to autism, the caretaker told my friends and I a lot of important information. First of all, again echoing Mr. Conroy's statement that there is no correlation between asperger's and violence, the caretaker told me some people with autism cannot effectively communicate. In letting other people understand, autistic people would tend to repeat what they say, so they may seem very intrusive. However, they are no more prone to violence than we are.
At the Kanner foundation, I got to meet many autistic people. Similar to the case of the boy with Asperger syndrome who loves skiing, I met an autistic person in 11th grade who was repeatedly bullied physically and verbally by his own classmates. As a result, he was afraid to talk to me because he thought that I could be a potential threat. His parents had reacted to the bullying by telling their case to his teacher, but after that, the bullying got even worse. Finally, her parents decided temporarily take him out of school and put him in the Kanner foundation.
From the case above, I come to two conclusions. Firstly, some people just do not understand, or try to understand autistic people. I believe one of a parent's greatest wish is to see that their autistic child is accepted in society. Why is that so difficult? The answer lies partly in people's ignorance. Due to the unique behavior of autistic people, they can become prime targets for bullies. Lastly, the I believe that "failing up" is not always the best choice for autistic people. With unsupportive classmates and surroundings, people who suffer from more severe forms of autism should really seek what type of education is suitable. Although special education for the autistic is more expensive, putting an autistic person in an unsuitable educational environment could potentially bring a negative effect, like the autistic person I met who was afraid of me because he thought that I might bully him. Also, as each autistic person would have different needs, there is no perfect formula for educating the autistic. There is just what is more suitable, and what is not.
