Blog Archives

MATTER OVER MIND

BY JULIAN MUNOZ

My name is Julian Munoz, and I am sane. Why I am starting with that declaration: I have that kind of sense that tells me that people tend to equate autism with insanity. Autism affects my ability to control my body with my mind. The thinking part of my mind works perfectly. Unfortunately, that thinking part is not in control. We, the nonspeaking, get lumped in with the insane too often. Our outward appearance throws people. Were they to spend time with us, they would realize we are rational. What rationally has me writing this blog is the desire to set people straight.

4/28/2025 3 Comments

We Want a Cure

When RFK spoke last week about autism, I was beyond thrilled. For all my life I have wanted someone to stand up and say what he did. We portray entertaining pictures of slightly quirky people on TV and people think that is autism.

That is not our experience. We suffer every single day of our lives. That is our reality. We cannot talk unless we have a trained CP with us, and most of us have never learned to type to communicate anyway. We cannot use the toilet unassisted, let alone shower or have any kind of privacy. We are very really aggressive too often, and self-injurious. We pour money into shows like The Good Doctor and Love On the Spectrum which show people with autism to be a little odd, but fully functional.

We nonspeakers are not functional. We are the ugly side of autism which no one sees because watching us beat the shit out of our mothers won’t sell more cars or cookies. No one is making cute TV shows about us. “How I Punched My Mother,” will never be a smash hit. We were speechless for all our lives. But at least a small percentage of us now are no longer voiceless. We want a cure…and we are fed up with the speakers talking for us.

3 Comments

4/14/2025 1 Comment

The Gala

The most wonderful night of the year is the gala. The way I feel when I am there is that I am worth something. All the people that come are dressed in attire for a fancy affair, which makes us feel it is real. Definitely Judy looked stunning, and her hair looked like the ladies of the nineteenth century. Friends and families were there celebrating their children like we are stars, not just their disabled burdens.

People believe more and more that we certainly can achieve things. May that belief spread to all the world. I know we look and sometimes act incredibly impaired but we are just like speakers inside. Inside we want to accomplish things.