Breaking FUD – AGE OF AUTISM
Two Olympians were in the news yesterday and not for their amazing skills or record breaking accomplishments.
“I have to focus on my mental health,” says Simone Biles after retiring from the gold medal event
Tennis star Naomi Osaka eliminated from the Olympic Games, quoted DruckTennis star Naomi Osaka eliminated from the Olympic Games, quoted Druck
What happens to young people? These women are the crème de la crème, but crumbling. I think social media plays a big part in the pressure. Everyone’s a critic has never been truer. Besides, being a woman. And both are women of color. Last night on NPR, the guest was the author of a book called “The Revolt of the Black Athlete”. Edwards re-links his story to the black athlete rebellion with a major uprising among black citizens, and continues his story into our era of protests, boycotts, and the dramatic politicization of athletes by Black Lives Matter. Concise but ultimately hopeful, The Revolt of the Black Athlete is still the essential study of conflicts at the interface of sport, race and society. I caught a good portion and it was an eye opener.
In 1980 men’s hockey had the weight of the Cold War on its shoulders as they battled the Soviets for victory. I worry that Simone and Naomi might one day become parents, like so many of us, and face a different kind of pressure and exhaustion. Where there are no medals. No breaks. Think about it:
When you wiped the blood off your face after an autism rage, could you take a break?
Did you take a break from cleaning up broken drywall and broken glass?
When your son had his 6th seizure of the day, could you take a break?
When school called you again to take him home, did you take a break?
When he was banned from team sport for disobeying the rules, did you take a break?
When she ran away and drowned in the neighbor’s pond, did you take a break?
When his insistence on guns and death caught the authorities’ attention, could you take a break?
When she slept 2 hours a night for 15 years, did you take a break?
When his classmates jokingly covered him with a pail of urine, could you take a break?
When your friends stopped inviting you to weekend events because your child was too disruptive, could you take a break?
When the invitations to the birthday party ran out, could you take a break?
When you cried in private after every prom, graduation, wedding, birth, could you take a break?
When your child turned 21 and there was nothing to do, could you take a break?
