Larry Bissonnette – Life with Autism

Lore around autism uses situations of incompetence to predict what little potential people have to learn creative and artistic skills. Like leading articles in magazines looking at populations of people with disabilities, my aesthetically questionable but not bad to argue work is the best way to clear up mysteries of what I am about. This is my reputation with people that know me.

Sonic sensitivity, placidity in personal relationships, loose personal hygiene, language processing problems, primitive, plastic social skills, kooky behaviors, activities limited by obsessive routines, gastronomical choices stuck on McDonalds, rote learning habits: this is a summary of autism’s daily impact on my life.

People like me deserve presidential treatment methods, promising a pattern of developmental achievements in life skills which do not spring gigantically from miracle cures but from serious patience and teaching with dedication and insight. Mostly, it’s good practices in educating unconventional people eccentric on the outside but normal on the inside that lops off weak branches of disability and promotes possibilities for new growth.

September, 1999