16 Sep 2020
One of our hard-working and talented year 12 students, Brendan was shortlisted for The Whitlam Institute ‘What Matters?’ Writing Competition running throughout February of 2020. Recently, Brendan was interviewed by our Media Studies class, they asked what the competition was about, a bit about the competitors and what inspired his writing.
“The Whitlam Institute 'What Matters?' Writing Competition is open to school students of all ages and asks entrants to submit a written piece that discusses an issue that you are really passionate about. For me, that issue was the stigma that continues to surround Autism and the ignorance towards it that I witness directed at my friends or peers on an almost daily basis. While we are given no stimulus, I was inspired by the incredible fortitude that my friends on the Autism Spectrum display each and every day against the struggle of life made worse simply by people who do not understand. While my piece is a generalisation and a dramatisation, the message remains clear. I seek to amplify the voices of these inspiring people.
You can now view all the shortlisted and finalist entries on the What Matters website
at: https://www.whitlam.org/what-matters”
Brendan’s entry is below.
Accessory to Suffering
In every hundred births, a remarkable baby is born. Someone with an extraordinary affinity for mathematics or the arts, someone who views our world through an unparalleled lens. And yet from their very first breath, the grand scales of justice are tipped against them.
Unfortunately, every one of us is guilty of perpetuating their torment. We have been dismissive of their pain and unconscious to their needs. In my mind, we could all undoubtedly be charged, tried and convicted for the crime of ‘accessory to suffering'.
Those with Autism Spectrum Disorder deserve empathy. More often, we bestow them with the acutely thoughtful gift of apathy. Why don’t we throw in a touch of insolence as well? A peace offering. It will complement quite nicely with the disdainful glares and pitied greetings we also allow them.
You seem shocked. I don’t know why... after all, we are the ones that cut their confidence with the fangs of our words and treat them as outsiders, undeserving of compassion. I know you do not yet understand. For only when our own hearts shatter, do we truly feel the pain of those we have hurt. So let me show you.
Place yourself in a classroom, with stale light glaring off the whitewashed walls, forcing your eyes to the table in front of you. Listen to the cacophony of voices from children who scream and argue and laugh. The sound is inescapable. It raises your blood pressure; it pushes against your skull. Your concentration is splintered. The voices never cease. The teacher yells to bring quiet, but his loud and damning tone only cuts deeper into your head. Your ears just won’t. stop. ringing.
Foetal position. Curl yourself into a ball, tuck your head between your knees and hum. Humming lets you concentrate; it drowns out the painful world outside. It is soothing, bringing back clarity and calm. After a while, you feel better.
But they don’t see that. They would never act like such a child in public. “Grow up,” they say. “Stop being immature.” They are glaring at you. Mocking you. You are a weirdo. An outsider. They struggle to hold in their laughter, and exchange ‘those’ looks. Now, you feel the gripping cold of isolation. It makes you embarrassed to be yourself. But hey, this is what you’re used to. These feelings do not come from your imagination, they are a reality for thousands of children in schools across the globe. 350 000 autistic Australians do not deserve to ever be treated in this way. They deserve your patience, your friendship, and most of all: your empathy.
When you finally acknowledge what others go through, that they are not outsiders or weirdos, that they are deserving of a little compassion after drawing the short stick in life…
When you show them empathy…
Only then, will you be acquitted from the crime of ‘accessory to suffering.’