The phrase “We’re not autistic,” which I used during an interview I gave to a journalist when speaking of dangerous budget cuts, is commonly used when speaking of politics in Costa Rica. To cite that phrase out of context and somehow associate its use with a lack of sensitivity on my part towards those with autism or any other disability would be a serious mistake.
Recently, Patricia Mora, legislator for the Broad Font Party, stated in the Costa Rican daily La Naciόn – as a way of deflecting criticism – that members of her party “aren’t autistic.” She doesn’t understand that people with autism and their families have to fight each and every day to be included in our society. She doesn’t understand that autistic people are incredible human beings, who, unlike most other people, don’t even know what evil and hypocrisy are.
