23 Stories That Will Make You Understand Autism Better

Dear readers,

Autism is a very well-known, but very little-understood condition. Most people assume it means you can’t talk, or interact with people, or you’re good at numbers. If there’s anything we’ve learned editing your stories over the years, is that it is sooooo much more nuanced than that, with so much variety on the ‘spectrum’ that many of you would be surprised. We thought we’d make a collection of stories to help spread awareness of what some of these beautiful people have to endure due to common ignorance.

We have rounded up 23 stories about people with autism, and we hope they help in relating to them for many of you!

An Automatic Autistic Response – It wouldn’t be a discussion about misunderstanding autism without the anti-vaxxers!

Somebody Has A Chip On Their Shoulder – Some workers need to realize that autistic customers making special requests is not them “being picky.”

Making Up And Breaking Down – Don’t spray unwanted chemicals in people’s faces ANYWAY – regardless of if they’re autistic or not!

Speaking Up For Those Who Can’t – Most autistic employees want to complete a good day’s work. It’s narrow-minded managers that often prevent that from happening.

Some Coworkers Are Just Suffocating – We don’t know what’s more disturbing; that the coworkers would do this to someone, or that they didn’t get fired for it.

That Age-Old Taboo – Social faux pa’s are not the sole domain of the autistic – certain NAR editors have made this mistake too!

The Teacher Is The Neediest Of Them All – This teacher needs to go back to school!

Artistic Autistic – You can always rely on one jerk to take advantage of a bad situation.

Meet Me In The Middle? – You asked, I answered. Next time, ask better questions!

Inject A Little Compassion – Note to medical staff about to draw blood from a patient – READ… THE… INFORMATION!

The Answer Is Elementary – An amazing story about a new teaching assistant!

Unrealistic Autistic – People like this are why this roundup needs to exist.

You Can Talk! – Some autistic people do not speak. Some other people should follow by example!

Being A Complete Assperger – This condition is not someone else’s excuse.

They Aut To Have Known Better – It’s time to go back to the beginning and start teaching them again.

Fooied That Up – Some autistic people are non-verbal. Some autistic people very much are!

Did A Job On You – The stigma that comes with autism is a reason why many choose not to share having it.

You Hanukkahn’t Keep Them Down – The cat should have caught his tongue!

Bad Words, Good Cause – You don’t need to be autistic to recognize a bigot, but here’s what happens when they meet anyway!

Brightening Up Everyone’s Day – If everyone took the responsibility to make things a little better for others, then the world would be a much better place.

Closing The Door To A Tolerant Society – Parents of autistic children have a steep enough learning curve to raise their children as it is, they don’t need to learn how to handle narrow-minded bus drivers either!

There’s No Vaccine Against Stupid – Yes, it’s another anti-vaxxer story, but with an ending you wouldn’t expect!

No Pranks, Just Thanks – And finally, one of our feel-good classics to end on a hopeful tone.

We hope you found this collection of stories informative, and that it gets to those who need to read it. Know any that we missed? Let us know in the comments! Want to send in your own story? Submit your story here!

Check out more roundups here to see if you’ve missed any!