I knew that going on WWW might not work out excellently. Everyone knew that. I’m autistic. I hate change, unfamiliar situations and sensory information. But, I still went on it. I blame my inherently optimistic personality.
One of the main reasons I went on WWW was because I wanted to collect leeches. I’m an aspiring hirudinologist and I needed leeches for my extended essay so this was a perfect opportunity. I may have also slightly wanted to delve into a fantasy of being a researcher in the field too. Just slightly. And I got to! So that was fun!
So day 1 – we went to the Mulgirigala temple which was interesting and tiring.
I move way slower than everyone else is also something I learned.
Day 2 – we went to Sithulpawwa which was also interesting and then it started raining midway. BUT – I did find a giant termite hill.
Day 3 – We arrived at the Rainforest Ecolodge and then there was a fish spa walk in the evening which I respectfully declined to take part in (recognizing my limits!)
Day 4 – I left.
WWW was by no means, terrible. It was fun and I did things that I usually wouldn’t do. But it did bring up stuff about me that I had a relatively hard time dealing with.
Like how I feel about being called ‘special’. Special or in sinhala, ‘vishesha’ in Sri Lanka is a synonym for disabled, specifically intellectual or learning disabilities. It’s not an insult (it’s meant to be a more positive way of describing disabilities) nor does it have malicious intent behind it but it can be an easy way to describe someone who has uh, other needs. Like it’s easier to say don’t do anything loud because she’s a special child and doesn’t like it than to say she has autism and experiences sensory sensitivities. But the thing with ‘special’ is that it is an umbrella term and people often assume that someone who’s labeled as special is intellectually disabled, cannot understand etc. Which is why I dislike the term. However, when I’m upset or in unfamiliar situations, I don’t generally correct people on this. I find it hard to speak to people, much less correct them but it’s just something I wanted to bring up as it happened occasionally on the trip itself.
Of course, I’d rather someone consider me special than disregard my needs entirely but I feel like this is something that needs a bit more awareness?
It also highlighted how there’s definitely more room for representation in terms of neurodevelopmental disorders in society. Mr Ravi had recommended “The Good Doctor” a while ago and while I disagree with how realistic it is in terms of “there’s absolutely no way that Shaun would have gotten into medical school, much less a hospital in real life – technical standards exist, they’re outdated but they exist”, it’s still nice to see someone with autism in a respected position.
Of course, there’s still the question of how I am recognized as disabled when autism is supposed to be an invisible disability but overall, WWW was fun! Involved more introspection that I initially thought but still fun!
