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Marta Temido, our Minister of Health, has just reached gold with a brilliant idea during a conversation with Cristina Ferreira during the program Cristina’s Day September 29 on TVI. Let me explain. “Governance is not autistic, governance sometimes does not fully reflect the will of the people, but governance is not autistic,” said Marta Temido about the fact that the Portuguese Government is attentive to the Portuguese will regarding the new coronavirus.
In a country where the number of autistic people to be diagnosed is not even discussed, our minister, with incredible skill, ended up diagnosing -or not- autism to the Government of Portugal in ten seconds, in an evening program.
Perhaps this is the answer: giving diagnosis, therapy and support to autistic people in the afternoon programs, since receiving them through the health system has been a struggle for years. There is a brilliant idea, which is for Cristina Ferreira.
Now seriously: autism is not a disconnection from the world, but a hyperconnection. As an autistic person, I am much more connected to everything around me, as my brain cannot turn off background sounds, so my biggest problem is actually not being able to disconnect.
I have been autistic for 30 years, successful in my career precisely due to the abilities that autism has given me. We have all the potential to be productive members of society, but we need help. There can be different types of therapy, since no one with autism is the same, such as occupational or speech therapy.
For many, the new coronavirus has spoiled various vacation plans, trips, concerts and other activities, but for a small community, autism and their families, it has postponed or eliminated the few therapies to which they have access. Many of the speech and occupational therapies have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with unthinkable impacts on children who need them to improve their speech prognosis, socialization and, one day, be able to fully integrate into a society that clearly it doesn’t adapt to them, but it doesn’t help them adapt either.
Many parents told me about the years that they waited for the therapies to be approved in our National Health System, until they had to decide whether they would pay out of their own pocket, with a great economic blow to the family, or wait and question the progress of your children . Yes, because speech therapies should be started as soon as possible in non-verbal autistic children for a better prognosis.
This lack of support is chronic and indicates a certain lack of hope that our Government has in the capacity and potential of autistic people. I, who have a degree, a master’s degree and work in the research area, I can guarantee that this investment will be paid twice.
It is not the first time that we have seen people who use “autistic” to say that they do not communicate, that they do not speak, a person that does not exist or is not present. This is a lie and perpetuates a totally misconception of what autism is, making our struggle to demystify this condition even more difficult. What, I confess, I did not expect was that the highest body of the Ministry of Health would do it as well. Some people may say that it is just an expression, but no: being autistic is not an expression, being autistic is being human. They should not use our difficulties to imply that they are not like us, that they are better.
Finally, a few words to our Minister of Health, Marta Temido. If you use the word autistic on television, do so to inform and generate support, which is few or nonexistent in some communities at the moment, and not to perpetuate stereotypes that will only prolong our struggle. I invite you to talk to me or to any autistic person who tells you how beautiful and unique our brain is.
I will always be available to dialogue with any government entity that has the will to support and improve the conditions of autistic people in Portugal, including our Minister of Health. I will be with open arms to speak.
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