The Challenges of Autism

Donna Williams' first memory is around three years of age. She recalls an all-white existence that, when she looked closely, was comprised of billions of dots. This was her reality and what she saw. However, she did not see the disapproval of her mother who did not understand her strange behavior. However, the slapping, hair-pulling, kicking, and name-calling did not make that all-white existence disappear. The slap to Donna was just an interruption in her world but it neither changed nor improved her abilities to function in the real world.

Those who do not suffer from autism find it difficult to understand how a basically normal appearing person cannot communicate in a conventional manner, cannot react emotionally in an expected way, and has fears that seem baseless. Those fears, as an autistic child, include the fear of being touched, fear of looking directly in someone's...