--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Think of it: a disability is usually…" description: "\"“Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d4/paul-collins-28940_autism_think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defi_1440810.jpg" --- # Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of… ![“Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over-expression of the very traits that make our species unique.” quote by Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d4/paul-collins-28940_autism_think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defi_1440810.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d4/paul-collins-28940_autism_think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defi_1440810.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d4/paul-collins-28940_autism_think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defi_1440810.jpg) > ““Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over-expression of the very traits that make our species unique.”” [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Autism is framed as both lacking and abundant traits, emphasizing unique strengths alongside challenges. **In simple terms:** Autism mixes missing and abundant traits. Key Takeaway Value the abundant traits of autism. Themes neurodiversity identity strengths Mood insightful balanced Type analysis inspirational When to use this quote - education - workplace inclusion - self‑advocacy - creative fields Key Concepts cognitive diversity social perception Questions to Reflect On - What strengths arise from autistic traits? - How can society support both aspects? A Different Perspective May underplay challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autism/) [Autism Abundant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autism-abundant-5154886/) [Disability Usually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disability-usually-5154888/) [Missing Autism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missing-autism-5154887/) [Think Disability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-disability-490687/) ## Related quotes > [I still find it strange, I suppose, when I say to someone, 'Can you just pass me my leg?' But I don't ever think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-pistorius/i-still-find-it-strange-i-suppose-when-i-say-to-someone-can-you-just/) [Oscar Pistorius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-pistorius/) > [There are things that I really find important, and that we need to remind ourselves of. When you think about disability, do you really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idris-elba/there-are-things-that-i-really-find-important-and-that-we-need-to/) [Idris Elba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idris-elba/) > [I think disability is the last bastion of political correctness, and people need to see that disabled people are funny. You know, our lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-carr/i-think-disability-is-the-last-bastion-of-political-correctness-and/) [Liz Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-carr/) > [I think that everyone has something about themselves that they feel is their weakness... their 'disability.' And I'm certain we all have one, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-mullins/i-think-that-everyone-has-something-about-themselves-that-they-feel/) [Aimee Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-mullins/) > [I think when you have a disability people are always putting limitations on you, telling you, even in a nice way, what you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-sauvage/i-think-when-you-have-a-disability-people-are-always-putting/) [Louise Sauvage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-sauvage/) > [We think we know what it's all about; we think that disability is a really simple thing, and we don't expect to see disabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-young/we-think-we-know-what-it-s-all-about-we-think-that-disability-is-a/) [Stella Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-young/) > [“Autists are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/autists-are-the-ultimate-square-pegs-and-the-problem-with-pounding-a/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/children-must-be-taught-how-to-think-not-what-to-think/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Some people with autism who don't talk, all they hear are vowel sounds. Like if I said 'cup,' they might just hear 'uh.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/some-people-with-autism-who-don-t-talk-all-they-hear-are-vowel-sounds/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [The position of Autism Speaks has been for quite awhile that we need to find out what's happening. We know there's a genetic component,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-emken/the-position-of-autism-speaks-has-been-for-quite-awhile-that-we-need/) [Elizabeth Emken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-emken/) > [Metaphor isn't just a fancy turn of speech. It shapes our thoughts and feelings, reaches out to grasp new experience, and even binds our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-richardson/metaphor-isn-t-just-a-fancy-turn-of-speech-it-shapes-our-thoughts-and/) [James Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-richardson/) > [Autism is a big continuum, going from someone who remains nonverbal, all the way up to geniuses on Silicon Valley. And some kids are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/autism-is-a-big-continuum-going-from-someone-who-remains-nonverbal/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [If you give us a safe vaccine, we'll use it. It shouldn't be polio versus autism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-mccarthy/if-you-give-us-a-safe-vaccine-we-ll-use-it-it-shouldn-t-be-polio/) [Jenny McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-mccarthy/) > [In fact, when we as neuro-typical people encounter a person with autism spectrum syndrome who's always been that way it is that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamlyn-tomita/in-fact-when-we-as-neuro-typical-people-encounter-a-person-with/) [Tamlyn Tomita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamlyn-tomita/) > [“We know that children with autism like order, that they are often very visual and that they can be quite literal. They deserve beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adele-devine/we-know-that-children-with-autism-like-order-that-they-are-often-very/) [Adele Devine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adele-devine/) ## More by Paul Collins > [“What you mean to find matters less than what you do find.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/what-you-mean-to-find-matters-less-than-what-you-do-find/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“Curb your fretting, tadpole, or the frog of your future will fail to croak.' -Thaddeus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/curb-your-fretting-tadpole-or-the-frog-of-your-future-will-fail-to/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“Autists are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/autists-are-the-ultimate-square-pegs-and-the-problem-with-pounding-a/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“…I had a good title already. My book was originally called Loser: A Brief History of Notable Failures. But American publishers don’t like this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/i-had-a-good-title-already-my-book-was-originally-called-loser-a/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“Generally, when a man is rabidly for one cause, and then is just as rabidly for another cause, it is not because he loves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/generally-when-a-man-is-rabidly-for-one-cause-and-then-is-just-as/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“If a book cover has raised lettering, metallic lettering, or raised metallic lettering, then it is telling the reader: Hello. I am an easy-to-read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/if-a-book-cover-has-raised-lettering-metallic-lettering-or-raised/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“If you grew up in a rural area, you have seen how farmhouses come and go, but the dent left by cellars is permanent.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/if-you-grew-up-in-a-rural-area-you-have-seen-how-farmhouses-come-and/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“I sometimes wonder whether century-old ruins look so beautiful to us beacause they were \*meant\* to ruin in a beautiful way. There was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/i-sometimes-wonder-whether-century-old-ruins-look-so-beautiful-to-us/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“But above all, an author must write passionately and edit passionately.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/but-above-all-an-author-must-write-passionately-and-edit-passionately/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“It really is an APPALLING thing to think of the people who have no books...It is only by books that most men and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/it-really-is-an-appalling-thing-to-think-of-the-people-who-have-no/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“Historically, dust jackets are a new concern for authors; you don't see them much before the 1920s. And dust jacket is a strange name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/historically-dust-jackets-are-a-new-concern-for-authors-you-don-t-see/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“A future owned by yellow journalism was not one most reporters wished to contemplate. Some libraries had already barred the "World" and the "Journal"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/a-future-owned-by-yellow-journalism-was-not-one-most-reporters-wished/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“Leatherbound books are an expensive form of wallpaper, and yet every English nobleman’s home seems to have had them. Their endless sets of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/leatherbound-books-are-an-expensive-form-of-wallpaper-and-yet-every/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“Put the penis schematic away, he told the coroner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/put-the-penis-schematic-away-he-told-the-coroner/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [“Many people are partial to the notion that . . . all writers are somehow mere vessels for Truth and Beauty when they compose.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/many-people-are-partial-to-the-notion-that-all-writers-are-somehow/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) [Explore all 19 Paul Collins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) ## More Autism quotes > [“We know that children with autism like order, that they are often very visual and that they can be quite literal. They deserve beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adele-devine/we-know-that-children-with-autism-like-order-that-they-are-often-very/) [Adele Devine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adele-devine/) > [In fact, when we as neuro-typical people encounter a person with autism spectrum syndrome who's always been that way it is that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamlyn-tomita/in-fact-when-we-as-neuro-typical-people-encounter-a-person-with/) [Tamlyn Tomita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamlyn-tomita/) > [If you give us a safe vaccine, we'll use it. It shouldn't be polio versus autism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-mccarthy/if-you-give-us-a-safe-vaccine-we-ll-use-it-it-shouldn-t-be-polio/) [Jenny McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-mccarthy/) > [Autism is a big continuum, going from someone who remains nonverbal, all the way up to geniuses on Silicon Valley. And some kids are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/autism-is-a-big-continuum-going-from-someone-who-remains-nonverbal/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [Metaphor isn't just a fancy turn of speech. It shapes our thoughts and feelings, reaches out to grasp new experience, and even binds our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-richardson/metaphor-isn-t-just-a-fancy-turn-of-speech-it-shapes-our-thoughts-and/) [James Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-richardson/) > [The position of Autism Speaks has been for quite awhile that we need to find out what's happening. We know there's a genetic component,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-emken/the-position-of-autism-speaks-has-been-for-quite-awhile-that-we-need/) [Elizabeth Emken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-emken/) > [Some people with autism who don't talk, all they hear are vowel sounds. Like if I said 'cup,' they might just hear 'uh.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/some-people-with-autism-who-don-t-talk-all-they-hear-are-vowel-sounds/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/children-must-be-taught-how-to-think-not-what-to-think/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Mild autism can give you a genius like Einstein. If you have severe autism, you could remain nonverbal. You don't want people to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/mild-autism-can-give-you-a-genius-like-einstein-if-you-have-severe/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [“The autistic mind is not the wave at the surface of the ocean, but the whole world that exists below.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krissy-bells/the-autistic-mind-is-not-the-wave-at-the-surface-of-the-ocean-but-the/) [Krissy Bells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krissy-bells/) > [In the person with autism, the brain may already be seeing the part and be less distracted by the whole, and in the person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-baron-cohen/in-the-person-with-autism-the-brain-may-already-be-seeing-the-part/) [Simon Baron-Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-baron-cohen/) > [I think that the definition of autism is too broad. You got to remember, autism definition is a behavioral profiling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/i-think-that-the-definition-of-autism-is-too-broad-you-got-to/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [There is a small segment of people with autism that have savant skills, where they can memorize entire maps of whole entire city. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/there-is-a-small-segment-of-people-with-autism-that-have-savant/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [When you have autism or aspergers, it's so hard to get a social life but trust me, in the end everyone can achieve at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia/when-you-have-autism-or-aspergers-it-s-so-hard-to-get-a-social-life/) [Lia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia/) > [“Unfortunately, by this time it didn't matter. Self-diagnosed autistics and fakers were asking diagnosed autistics whether or not they had a diagnosis, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-d-taylor/unfortunately-by-this-time-it-didn-t-matter-self-diagnosed-autistics/) [Thomas D. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-d-taylor/) [Browse all 621 Autism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over-expression of the very traits that make our species unique.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Collins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defined-in-terms-of-what-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Autism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defined-in-terms-of-what-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d4/paul-collins-28940_autism_think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defi_1440810.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d4/paul-collins-28940_autism_think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defi_1440810.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d4/paul-collins-28940_autism_think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defi_1440810.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about…” — Paul Collins", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Collins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Think of it: a disability is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defined-in-terms-of-what-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/think-of-it-a-disability-is-usually-defined-in-terms-of-what-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```