Autism Interview #91 Part 1: Leanne Libas on Autistic Identity

Leanne Libas is a writer, college student, and a/Autistic advocate. Leanne started her advocacy work after a life-changing experience at YLF (Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities). Leanne was an Autistic Scholarship Fellowship Recipient from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and she was a regular contributor to the Art of Autism blog. This is the first part of a two-part interview with Leanne. This week she shared her experience understanding how autism affects her and how she has adopted a positive autistic identity.

How to Hide Your Autism

This article was written by autistic advocate Kieran Rose and was originally published on autismawareness.com and his website The Autistic Advocate. It is reprinted here with his permission.

If you are the parent of an Autistic child, I’m going to introduce you to a concept that’s going to scare the pants off of you:  Your child is going to grow up to be me:

I am an Autistic adult.

Some people are of the belief that Autism can be grown out, or that with the right support and interventions, Autism can be cured or lessened.

If you’re one of those people, then I’m about to blow your minds with a second concept: Nobody grows out of Autism and a child cannot be trained out of it.  We just get better at hiding it.