I Have Asperger's

The other day, I had a great opportunity to do a presentation with someone from Autism Speaks.  I gladly accepted and the presentation went wonderfully.  People listened to me, and it was just a great experience.  I got back home, and went onto my twitter. 

You see, there are always SO many people who are talking negatively about Autism Speaks.  About how the organization doesn't actually let people on the spectrum speak for themselves.  About how the money goes to pay for luxurious offices.  I thought: This is my opportunity to tell them they were all wrong.  Autism Speaks has let ME speak!

So, I went onto my twitter and tweeted about this.  I was expecting to get many responses back that showed I had changed minds of people and convinced them to quit bashing the organization.  I wanted to ask everyone who was speaking so negatively what THEY had done for me, because Autism Speaks has actually done PLENTY.  I was SO surprised (and a little disappointed) that hardly ANYONE responded.  I did a search for Autism Speaks, thinking that maybe people had ALREADY changed their minds, and what I was telling them was just old news. 

Nope, people were still tweeting out negative comments.  I began to feel so hopeless.  Then, I stopped myself.  Why was I feeling SO depressed after I had just done something so wonderful?  I had helped people, I had spread some awareness, and that was all that mattered.

I went into this presentation for Autism Speaks thinking I was going to change the world, like this big superhero, making everyone love this organization.  I left it realizing I had changed myself for the better, knowing that it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks or does.  What matters is what I choose to do.  And I choose to spread awareness, and Autism Speaks chose to help me do this.

Whether or not people like Autism Speaks is no longer the point to me.  The point is that we are all going towards the same goal with good intentions.  And I choose to go towards it with a positive attitude, and respect.