• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Messy Bun Life

Messy Bun, Get Parenting Done

  • Blog
    • Get Parenting Done
    • Mom Hacks
    • Special Needs Parenting
  • About The Messy Bun Life
    • Contact Laura
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Messy Bun Picks
    • Sign Up For My Newsletter!
    • Free IEP Worksheet

Beyond Climate Change: Why Greta Thunberg Matters For My Son

October 4, 2019 By Laura Epstein

94 Shares
Pin77
Tweet
Share17
Share
Email

Greta Thunberg is an amazing advocate for climate change. She is well spoken, passionate, knowledgeable, and will hopefully help to lead a worldwide movement to change our laws and policies and curb climate change. But that is not why she is important to my son. My son has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. His diagnostic report reads “he has what used to be called aspergers”. Like my son, Greta Thunberg also has aspergers.

greta thunberg autism

One day my son will ask me who else is on the autism spectrum and I will look to answer that question. While there are lots of incredibly successful people on the autism spectrum, Albert Einstein, Tim Burton, and Hans Christian Andersen may not be the best example to talk to him about. Thunberg is an amazing example for him, in part, because of her age. She is sixteen, making her the same generation as my seven year old. She’s not a historic figure or an adult, she is a young person making a major impact with, not in spite of, being on the autism spectrum.

She has also responded to critics by talking about how her aspergers effects her positively. She was recently attacked by those disagreeing with her climate change stance. They attacked her personally. A fox news guest called her “a mentally ill Swedish child”. Donald Trump tweeted a video of her speaking at the UN with the sarcastic comment “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!” One day my son may face criticism because of his autism and I can only help he responds in as a composed and thoughtful manner as Thunberg has. She has talked about the perks of neurodiversity and “thinking out of the box ” especially when dealing with a crisis such as climate change.

Thunberg previously tweeted, “I have Asperger’s and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm, And — given the right circumstances — being different is a superpower.” I can only hope that my son is so direct and secure in his neurodiversity and that he too learns that it is a superpower!

  • Why I Don’t Treat My Children Equally
  • 15 Great Toys for Fine Motor Skill Development
  • The Best Pants for Moms
  • 20 MORE Easy Activities For Fine Motor Skill Development
  • 22 Essentials for Summer With Your Toddler
94 Shares
Pin77
Tweet
Share17
Share
Email

Filed Under: Special Needs Parenting Tagged With: ASD, Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Millie Kenaga says

    December 12, 2019 at 8:20 pm

    Did you hear who Time Magazine made person of the year? Its Greta Thunberg. I gotta say I’m not surprised. I saw that Dana Perino predicted a while back this would happen. Greta deserves it.

Primary Sidebar

About Laura

Messy Bun Life

The Messy Bun Life is a parenting blog primarily authored by Laura Epstein. We are here to support all … ...read more about About The Messy Bun Life

Recent Posts

  • Why I Don’t Treat My Children Equally
  • 15 Great Toys for Fine Motor Skill Development
  • The Best Pants for Moms
  • 20 MORE Easy Activities For Fine Motor Skill Development
  • 22 Essentials for Summer With Your Toddler

Footer

Where You Can Find Me:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 ยท Laura Epstein, The Messy Bun Life

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT