Perspective

Perspective

by: Scott Pryor

I have discovered that there are two types of drivers on the roads.  The first type is the speed demon, racing down the streets with reckless abandon.  The second type of driver is the slow poke, clogging the roads with their fear of the speed limit.  I am the exception to the rule as I find that I am neither a speed demon nor a slow poke.  When I travel in my car I drive at a speed that doesn’t feel too fast or too slow.  My speed is just right.

One of the problems with viewing drivers through a single viewpoint is that it fails to take into account the perspective of others.  To the speed demon I am one of the slow pokes.  To the slow pokes I am one of the speed demons.  My driving hasn’t changed, but the lens through which we look can reclassify me into either of the groups.

What does this have to do with Autism?  I find that individuals on the Autism Spectrum, as well as those of us who are not on the spectrum, can often struggle recognizing the possibility of multiple perspectives.  The fact that I dislike coconut doesn’t mean that coconut is bad any more than the fact that my wife loves coconut means that it is good.   Coconut is neither good nor bad, it’s just coconut.  It is only when we view things through the lens of other’s perspectives that we get a true sense of what they are.

As we interact with our children, it is important that we help them become aware of the different perspectives around them.  We might do this by simply spotlighting the perspective of the speed demon or the slow poke, the clean freak or the messy slob, the overly cautious or the risk-taker.  By building awareness of different perspectives we develop a truer sense of the world and events around us rather than developing our opinions of the world from a single vantage point.  And if you see me driving down the street, know that I am neither a speed demon nor a slow poke, I’m just another perspective.