Talking is nearly impossible for me. Thinking is not. Talking requires my brain, mouth, and tongue to work together. Thinking does not. Talking is a way to express ideas to others. Thinking is only for myself.
I hope this clarifies the difference.
Stephen Hawking can’t talk but we all know he can think. Lou Gehrig had lost his speech, not his intact soul and mind. The stroke victim has lost his speech but why would he lose his ability to think? A deaf person might not be able to speak, but can sign intelligent thoughts.
Imagine the deaf person with two broken arms. Does he then become unable to understand or think? I ask this ridiculous question because the reality for autistic people is that our arms and our mouths don’t communicate with our brains, so our output is severely messed up. Severely messed up is an understatement. Trapped under sticky goo at the bottom of a pit is more like it. So, autism is a real prison internally.
It’s not a receptive language disorder. Not for me, and not for lots of others. Can I speak for all? No. But, I do speak for many who sit in class, with intact minds, watching boring ABC movies and 1+1 math year after year after year. The time is now to advance our understanding of autism. This is my mission. Thanks for joining me on the way.
