My Dear Storybuff:
I was minding my merry chocolate chip business one day when I came within earshot of a casual conversation. Try as I might to keep my head down and ears nonchalant, my eardrums couldn't help but perk up when the chat turned peculiar.
“Girl, he doesn't have it anymore. My cousin grew out of it. Yeah, girl people don't know you can grow out of autism.”
Hmm... I doubt the speaker would approach a person who's wheelchair mobile and say, “Don't worry. If you try hard enough, you can grow right outta quadriplegia.” Then again, the speaker could but not without most of American society frowning on them and the recipient being harassed.
Anybody with a physical or visible disability deserves respect. The public should honor that their difference is not something wrong or stunted about them they need to grow out of. This is the same for a person who has autism, epilepsy, Crohn's, Myasthenia Gravis, CMT, or any invisible/dynamic disability.
They may accommodate their uniqueness. Or they may learn how to endure the drain of masking their difference to avoid professional, social, political, economic, or spiritual ire from others. But, especially for the latter, they shouldn't have to.
Audio-visual and written media still depict these challenges. But there's been progress in broadcasting authentic disabled characters who are nuanced and layered too. May it be said that there isn't a need to grow out of a disability just as much as there isn't a need for someone to grow out of having more melanin than their neighbor or being queer.
But there is a need for many non-disabled people to grow out of something else. It can be blissful as much as it can be harmful. It's pervasive. And some might even call it contagious. Ignorance. Now, ignorance is something somebody can grow out of. Well, if they really want to. How have you been embracing your difference or the difference of others lately?
That's my story morning glory. Keep living out yours. And remember—we don't tell stories… Stories tell us.
Peace ~ D.V. Gwyth