My point still stands: autism can take a flying leap February 23rd, 2012, 4:12 pm · · posted by Jo Ashline, OC Moms

This morning I published a blog post about autism here on the Mom Blog (which is part of the Orange County Register). It was taken down an hour later. The reason was NOT because it was, as one Facebook commenter put it,  “bigoted and offensive.” It was because I used a word that I learned the hard way can’t be used in a media outlet like OC Register.

And I respect that. I respect my editor. I respect the editors she answers to.

I respect that there are certain protocols in place that prevent me from being a potty mouth. Guidelines are in place for a reason and if I want to continue writing this blog, I’m going to have to find a more creative way to express my emotions than resorting to those tried and true no-no words.

I’m up to the challenge. I DO want to keep writing here. I have plenty more to say and plenty of people I haven’t offended yet.

But today I had to make a choice. As a writer I am faced with this inner voice that tells me whether or not something I put out is done so with integrity. That doesn’t mean that everything I write is award-winning or will move mountains, but it does mean that when I hit publish, I do so with the confidence that I’ve given it my all. Even if it’s a piece about Victoria Beckham.

I reread that post half a dozen times. I tried my best to think of replacements that would still get my point across. But darn it all to heck if I just didn’t get the same feeling when I filled in the blanks with, I Told Autism To Take A Flying Leap or  I Told Autism It Can See Itself Out or I Told Autism That Maybe It Can Sort Of Possibly Retreat But Only If It Feels Like It.

So I chose to leave it alone and post it on my personal website, joashline.com, where you can read it in its uncensored entirety. 

Now. To address these accusations of bigotry and hatred.

I do not speak from a place of discrimination. I do not speak from a place that puts some people before others. I have more diagnoses than I know what to do with, including but not limited to panic attack disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, alcoholism and depression — and that’s just the first line of my medical file. These are all things that make up who I am, in part, but they are not things that I celebrate.

These are all diagnoses that have shaped me in some form or another, but I have no problem flipping them off after a bad day because of them, or after a particularly good one in spite of them.

The same is for my son’s autism. I do not consider him defined by his autism. I consider him affected and afflicted and hindered by it. That is our version. That is our reality. This is a child who requires 24 hours of non-stop supervision, because he would not think twice about running out into traffic or drinking bleach or walking off with a stranger or jumping into a body of water even though he cannot swim.

This is what our version of autism looks like.

We invest in doctors and therapy and innovative technology — not because maybe we think autism is kind of OK as long as we have a handle on it, but because we want to get rid of it. Because we see what it does to our loved ones and we hold onto the belief that it CAN and it WILL get better.

So my opinion stands. Autism can, er, take a flying leap.

And I promise to keep it legit on this site and entertain and anger and otherwise annoy you without the use of banned words. I used to teach kindergarten for goodness sake. I CAN do this!

But if you’re ever in the mood to hear a naughty word or two — because sometimes it’s that one naughty word that can really drive home a point — well then, you know where to find me.

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My point still stands: autism can take a flying leap