I Spent aWeek Teaching Children with Autism—Here’s the Surprising Truth No One Talks About
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with children who have autism, many of whom are non-verbal and require significant support in their day-to-day tasks. This experience has profoundly shaped the way I view these beautiful souls. I now believe they are highly advanced, powerful beings who have chosen to incarnate into neurodivergent bodies with a purpose: to teach the rest of us a crucial lesson in connection, compassion, and authentic interaction.
What stands out to me is how these children offer us a mirror, reflecting back the energy we project toward them. Their responses are immediate, raw, and real, untouched by the layers of social conditioning many of us experience as we grow up. If you approach them with love, kindness, and patience, they return that energy to you tenfold. If, however, you show them frustration or disconnection, they will reflect that energy right back as well. There is no hiding behind words or false pretenses. Their non-verbal nature keeps their responses pure, bypassing the complexities of language and societal expectations. It is a powerful reminder that what we give is always what we get in return.
This clarity of interaction is something we can all learn from, and it starts with recognizing how conditioned we are to suppress our authentic emotional responses. From a very young age, we’re taught—whether through family dynamics, school systems, or media—to mute or hide parts of ourselves that don’t conform to societal norms. Children, in their early years, naturally understand the principles of connection and authenticity, but as they grow, those instincts are often tangled up in layers of indoctrination that teach them to behave a certain way in exchange for acceptance or approval.
But neurodivergent children don’t fit neatly into that box. They remain true to their energetic and emotional responses, showing us the reflection of our own state of being in real-time. This dynamic, this ability to reflect exactly what they receive, can teach us so much about the raw simplicity of human interaction: you get what you give. It’s not complicated, and yet, for many of us, that reflection gets muddled over time. The feedback loop between what we project and what we receive becomes delayed, confused, and interwoven with years of unprocessed emotion, social cues, and verbal communication that doesn’t always reflect our true state.
This is why I believe these neurodivergent children are such profound teachers for us all. Their very presence and interaction remind us to strip away the layers of pretense and return to the wisdom of the heart and body. They lead us back to the basics—treat others with the energy you want to receive. They help us reconnect with the wisdom of our emotions, which serve as messengers if we allow ourselves to listen.
And it’s important to note that this isn’t about denying emotions we deem “undesirable.” We aren’t meant to be robots or to avoid the natural range of human experience. Instead, it’s about understanding the wisdom that each emotion carries. Anger, frustration, sadness—these are all valid emotions that tell us something important. The body holds this wisdom, often beyond what the mind can process or intellectualize. If we can learn to trust these signals, to lead with our emotions and respect them for the insight they offer, we would create a much more harmonious world for ourselves and those around us.
These children, with their non-verbal presence and their unapologetic authenticity, are here to help us remember what it means to be truly connected. They are here to guide us back to our hearts, to help us lead with compassion, and to remind us of the simple truth: we receive exactly what we give.
