I wrote recently about the Dream Theater song “Solitary Shell” and how it brought to mind the impressions many people have of autistic individuals.  Tonight I popped in Dream Theater – Live at Budokan to help get the creative juices flowing.  The first song in their set list for this show is a song called “As I Am”, an excellent opening.

Anyway….  I’m pretty confident that this song wasn’t written with autism in mind, but the message the writer is trying to get across – that he is a unique individual and should be accepted as that – reminds me of what many of my autistic friends ask for.   (Like most poetry, this is best appreciated in spoken, or in this case, sung form.   Just imagine a driving guitar, bass and pounding drums as you read this anthem out loud to yourself.)

Don’t
Tell me what’s in
Tell me how to write
Don’t tell me how to win
This fight
Isn’t your life
It isn’t your right
To take the only thing that’s
mine

Proven over time
It is over your head
Don’t try to read between the
Lines
Are clearly defined
“Never lose sight of
Something you believe in”

Taking in the view from the outside
Feeling like the underdog
Watching through the window I’m on the outside
Living like the underdog

I’ve been trying to justify you
In the end I will just defy you

To those who understand, I extend my hand
To the doubtful I demand, take me as I am
Not under your command, I know where I stand
I won’t change to fit your plan, Take me as I am

The emphasis on the last verse is mine, because I think it really gets to the heart of the issue.  Though we may not have all thought about this, because our situation in life allows us to not worry about it, if you give it some thought you will realize that this is what you want for yourself as well.