Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Be positive :)

My parents are Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners. They work all day and night for my living, so I think. Then I realize they have a few clients who have autism.

I hear from their parents; yes, parents, those who pay for alternative treatment and therapies for their children, they want their children to be 'cured' from autism. I know something is not right. Then I ask my parents, and they say I had been cured from autism, and I should not even think of this term.

Autism is not a negative label in its actuality. It is what it is - a medical diagnosis by a psychologist or psychiatrist. 

We only determine our value of life. It applies to people with autism, as well as people not on the Autism Spectrum - or, should I say, neurotypicals/NTs?

We may overcome many obstacles in life. Like not feeling comfortable with our surroundings. Or maybe not being able to be employed or have a steady relationship and live alone from parents, like what Eric Chen said as 'the Triad of Normality'. Or perhaps, not being able to control whatever we want, or not want, to function socially and verbally, even with the best of our efforts.

However, the lowest of troughs will eventually make the feeling of reaching the peaks of life more of a triumph. To reach the peaks, we have to put in effort, but we will never reach the peaks unless we have the intense focus to reach the top. It takes real hard work and dedication to reach there. To me, reaching the summit requires more than just relentless pursuit of success, it also means maintaining high spirits to keep pushing harder, make our hearts stronger, with more perseverance and resilience. 

And nothing brings more lasting power than a positive attitude at all times, at least, in my opinion.

I will probably not follow my parents' footsteps as even someone who may mislead my clients into thinking 'he will treat my child's autism'. I will, however, do my best to inspire fellow Auties and Aspies to be our awesome selves, and to keep the spirits of us and our parents high. 

This is why I will not see myself as a Traditional Chinese Practitioner or someone who may 'cure' autism, at least, for now. I hope I can not only think positively, but to inspire others like me to be optimistic with our outlook in life, too.

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