What if he's Autistic but he Doesn’t Code?

So many autistic individuals excel at coding. There is just something about it that makes many natural leaders in this industry. Microsoft knows it. Google is privy. 

For my daughter, she hasn’t taken to coding. She can do it better than I could ever hope to, no doubt,  but it just hasn’t lit a fire under her and made her want to pursue this road. She’s found her passion in studying nature and the environment. 

So what if coding isn’t you: What if you are more of a painter? A swimmer? A people person?

The point I’m trying to make here is that stereotypes about autism happen for a reason. Many autistic people love coding. And trains. And lining stuff up. And many don’t. 

Stereotypes help us to be lazy because we can’t process too much information at once. However, if we are not careful, we can overuse stereotypes and gallop right into ignorance. So just like many women love cooking, many don’t. And just like many dads love New Balance sneakers, others hate them. Don’t assume all teens love rap music because the Swifties will come and get ya. 

If you are an autistic or if you have an autistic child who doesn’t love everything about computers…don’t stress. First and foremost, remember how boring life would be if we were all coders. And not every person on the spectrum needs to be Steve Jobs.