At the Asia-Pacific Autism Conference 2025 in Perth, Australia (#APAC2025), I sought to be my profoundly autistic son's voice in highlighting the need to respect his profound neurodivergence. This includes recognizing that his nonverbal communication is his native language — expressing his emotions with his body, rather than his words. This expression is integral to his nature. We need to level our communication playing field to connect with them authentically and help allev

...profoundly autistic individuals, like Sebastien, are true to their emotions. They wear their hearts on their sleeves. They bear and display the emotional complexity, instead of pretending them away. It is our pretense, our wearing of masks, that drives them crazy. The reality is that we do not understand profoundly autistic individuals. Instead of trying to understand their difference, we just want them to be "easy to control".