Ian Moche in Black Box: “Autism makes us perceive the world in a different way”

For the first time a child sits in the iconic armchairs of Filo News next to Julio Leiva to reflect on autism. Ian Moche is an activist and went viral for his great ability to communicate issues of neurodiversity and autism spectrum at such a young age. In an interview, he offered us a different perspective on bullying: “You have to raise awareness about it. What is autism?: “Autism, in a very simple way, is a condition that makes us perceive the world in a different way. This makes socialization, communication and sensory integration different. Every autistic person is different. This is the most important thing of all. For example here I can hear the noise of, I don’t know, the light, I can hear the noise of many things, the noise of everything. I mean, it’s a lot of stimuli, it’s like I have a lot of mistuned radios inside my head. So I have to choose one to listen to and that’s very difficult because it’s like so many stimuli that come in, that you end up in a meltdown, which means reaction of a while. That is, it is the reaction of autistics to stimuli, while other autistics are much more sensitive and do not even feel pain. That’s why I say this thing that every autistic person is different.” The truth is, I think I can live a completely normal life. I think, maybe I could go to Korea. I would like to go to Korea for a while. I don’t know if I should live there, but at least for a while. And then. And having a normal life, getting married, having children, all that,” Ian said in a dialogue with Julio Leiva in Caja Negra. In addition, he said that he would like to be president: “Now I want to be president. The truth is that I would love to, but I don’t know, I have to think about it, because I’m among president. I’m also between… Show me. It’s a lot of careers: President, it’s one. Then I would like to be an MP, journalist, actor and singer. I’m choosing between some of them.” For now, he is an activist and spreads information about autism on his social networks. He does it “because he wants to help”: “I want us to be able to make a better world for everyone, not just for autistics, for all people. And also because, the truth, I’m realizing that I’m helping a lot of people and that makes me very happy.”
In the privacy of Caja Negra, where on several occasions he said he loved the note, he explained some concepts for those who are still not clear about this condition: “Autism is not carried in the backpack or it is my best friend. Here is not ‘Autism’. If you ask me, ‘Ian, are you autistic? Are you a person with autism?’ I came alone, I don’t come with anyone else, I’m autistic. Autism is me. I am the autistic. It’s not outside, you can’t see it. It’s an invisible condition that I have.” Meltdowns “are not tantrums. It is when you literally deregulate yourself so much, There are so many stimuli or so many thoughts or so much you feel that you explode. You’re literally not present, you don’t know anything about what’s wrong with you, it’s super dangerous.” To avoid reaching that situation, stimuli must be controlled and/or self-regulation tools used: “These self-regulation tools are tools that are not toys, because they are misconsidered toys, but they are essential tools for us so that we can self-regulate. It’s like a lens for a kid who has vision problems or a cane for a person who has mobility problems, has reduced mobility, so that’s why you don’t have to consider them toys.” For Ian, “love is a general feeling towards everything. It is not an infatuation of a man and a woman. It is the feeling that we love each other and that there is a very good feeling towards that person, that we love each other very much and we think that he is very kind and good. Love is being happy with that person, loving them, understanding them, being empathetic with them.” If we go to the black box of your life, what is the moment that makes you the person you are today?: “The scene in my life that did that is when I started my activism, it happened when it was my first note, my first living, it was made to me by an autistic woman. I send her kisses, who is my godmother of autism and well, after that note I told my mom: ‘mom, I want to be an activist’ and well, that’s where we started the journey, “Ivan replied.Towards the end of the interview the black box opens. An unexpected challenge begins. Week by week a figure will be submitted to the living room to dialogue and reflect. And you, do you dare to remember what moment a click made in your life?

Original source in Spanish