Recently, I was told by a parent of a child on the autism spectrum that I am "not significantly enough affected by autism to be able to understand real autism" and therefore should stop speaking out about autism. Some aspects of my personal history (Endow, 2009) that you may find interesting include:   Was nonverbal for some time Had self-injurious behaviors Lived in an institution for some years of my childhood Lived in two different groups homes Diagnosed with classic autism I understand that as a parent of a child with significant needs you may look at me and look