Daniel Rios Asensi was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the age of 11. Now in his teens, he shares his experiences and discusses the importance of raising awareness on the condition. I’m autistic. I was diagnosed at the age of 11. This shouldn’t feel insulting to me, it’s just a fact. Yet, I’ve heard the word ‘autistic’ used in a derogatory fashion time and time again by many people. Now, it’s come to feel a bit like a negative adjective for me. Some people don’t use it as an insult but due to not knowing any better; they are not aware of how autism can affect people in completely different ways. They believe that all autistic people can’t talk at all, that they’re antisocial and have very high IQs. You know the stereotype. Perhaps, in a Hollywood movie, it’s the autistic kid who never talks but is unexpectedly a genius. Media portrayal has fuelled this oversimplification of the entire condition. Even certain NGOs like Autism Speaks wrongly portray autism as a disease, spreading lies about its correlation to vaccines or insisting we should look for a ‘cure’ to it. Autism is not a tragedy, it’s a reality. It’s a lens through which I see the world. Everyone knows...