Tim Barrus: We Are Not All The Same

I am a communist. I do not discuss autism because I do not understand what it is even if they say I have it. They say high functioning but I do not know what that means. We are not all alike. Autism is not the same for everyone who has it. People think I am listening to them because I smile, nod my head, and I am staring at your shoulder or your ear. I only look at human eyes if I am forced to do it. I deeply hate Homo sapiens. They have kicked me around all my life. I am a very angry person because all you have ever done is prevent me from participating in life, in community, we did not mean you. Like I didn’t know they did not mean me. I am hanging on by the skin of my teeth. In my school, we were the special ed stupids and our classroom was in the basement boiler room so no one had to look at us. When the bell rang and all the other kids ran back to class, we were allowed to use the playground, but we were not allowed to interact with other children. They did not know us. No one knew where our classroom even was. Emerging from the boiler room was like being blinded by the sun. All I wanted to do was write. I could focus. I could create worlds that were not a boiler room. Today, I take photographs. I am taking black and white photos of people with their eyes closed. The power of the mask is anonymity. Cognition and autism yield great theory. It’s selective. I won’t remember your name. People always want me to stop writing. There is no vaccine to make us all alike.