Teresa is in her early 20s and looking forward to blogging about her journey with newly diagnosed autism. Within the past few years, she’s had to rebuild her entire life from scratch and navigate everything very differently. She recently had the opportunity to job shadow at different locations and has been inspired to attend college and one day work with children. Teresa is eager for this new chapter in her life and wants to inspire others with autism to never give up, despite whatever obstacles life may throw their way.
View all postsSpeaking Up About Autism and Misinformation
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Hi friends! Welcome back to my blog. For this blog, I originally had plans to write some sort of Halloween-inspired post, but I got inspired to write about something more important to me. If you keep up with the news, you’ve probably heard about some of the things that President Donald Trump has been saying about autism.
Now, I personally don’t like to talk about politics. However, as someone who has autism and who also has family members and friends on the spectrum, seeing and hearing the things that have been said really upsets me.
Recently, Trump has made several public comments suggesting that autism might be caused by things like Tylenol use during pregnancy or childhood vaccines. These claims aren’t new, but they’ve been widely debunked by medical experts for years.
What also hurts is how these comments make autism sound like something bad that needs to be avoided or “fixed.” Autism isn’t a disease. It’s a part of who we are.
It also makes it sound like autism is something bad when it’s not. It’s a different way of thinking. People with autism deserve to be understood and accepted.
In closing, I’d just like to say that this blog was not meant to attack President Trump or any political figure. My hope through this blog is to spread awareness and kindness to others. My hope is that by speaking up, even in small ways like this blog, we can help replace fear with facts and stigma with empathy. I hope you enjoyed this blog, and I’ll see you in the next one!
Teresa Cardona
