Autism is widely misunderstood in society and that makes it difficult not just for the person with autism but also to the person’s family.
This misunderstanding also makes for unnecessarily strained relations especially if they’re the people that the person with the disability has to encounter on a daily basis.
The image that most people see when you mention the word autism is that of someone who is socially impaired and can’t function normally in the world while displaying rigid and repetitive behaviors. Deviate from a set routine and the autistic person can be set off in a way that is hard for everyone to deal with.
Watch a boy with autism play the piano below.
[rumble video_id=v5j8t5 domain_id=u7nb2]
Video credit: Rumble
However, autism manifests in many different ways, with several degrees of social impairment, for example, so it would actually be more accurate to call the disability autism spectrum disorder (ASD).point 262 |
What this means is that apart from the devastating disability that has been popularized, it’s possible for someone who is autistic to have just a mere handicap that makes it just a little more difficult to live life normally (and perhaps you may even call this person “quirky” but nothing more than that).point 271 | 1
When it comes to cognitive impairment, the thing about autism is that skill development is very uneven.point 197 | So while they may struggle in social situations or have difficulty tackling certain subject matter, other skill sets may see near prodigious development.point 328 |
This means that you can have autistic people who are skilled painters, talented musicians, or math problem-solving geniuses.point 107 | 1
And this is why a 12-year-old boy with autism named Alfie Bennett managed to stun commuters at a crowded train station when he suddenly started playing a perfect rendition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the piano.
The boy, from Sutton Coldfield, West Mids, was with his family traveling to Birmingham News Street from London. When they arrived, Alfie went straight to the piano to play the song.
According to his mother, Kayley Bennett, 32, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is Alfie’s favorite song and the admiring crowd really touched her.
The mother-of-three said: “It was amazing, some people were filming, others were crying while they were watching, a lot of people were asking if I was his mom.
“I am so proud- the people didn’t seem to bother him at all, he just loves music and plays for himself.
“He taught himself about three years ago and he also plays the guitar- he definitely wants to be a musician when he grows up.
“He was diagnosed with autism when he was nine so he sometimes struggles in social situations but he has found music as his way of communication.”
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