AS a special needs teacher who works with adults with special needs including autism, the recent case of Ahmad Ziqri Morshidi, the 22-year-old man with autism who was arrested for allegedly molesting a woman, highlighted to me how ignorance about autism drives people’s reaction to it.
There is a lot of preconceived ideas about what autism is. Let me first say what it isn’t. Autism isn’t a disease. It isn’t something you can contract. It isn’t due to poor upbringing or the fault of the mother. And it most certainly isn’t insanity.