Autism, Like Race, Complicates Almost Everything : Code Switch : NPR

Autism, Like Race, Complicates Almost Everything : Code Switch : NPR: Children have tantrums. They yell and grab at things that they should ask for nicely. And when a child has autism, like my son, these episodes can be epic: toys hurled across a room, screaming fits that last hours, and flurries of hitting that get triggered by even a minor change in a routine.

But when my son screams at his therapist and tries to snatch Magic Markers from his hands, I gasp. I think of Trayvon Martin.

I'm black, and so is my son. And even though at that moment he's just 5 years old, I know that an angry swipe at a white man's hands could get him killed one day.

At some of the toughest moments with my son, this therapist has been a sanity saver ... for me. A middle-aged white man, he has the warm, easy manner of everyone's favorite uncle. For my son, he has compassion and endless patience. But at times he's told my son NOT to do something, and my son has not only done it; he's also gotten physical.