Difference and acceptance

Hello I understand how you feel. There is sometimes the automatic assumption that anyone who does not fit the norm is disabled. I too feel simply different because I am autistic - I am not disabled because of my neurotype, it is just my natural way of being.

We as autistic people are a minority and therefore because we do things differently from the majority neurotype we are continuously labelled. Thanks to evolution of the Neurodiversity Movement there is growing acceptance of different ways of being human. 

I do understand however that some other autistic people do use and embrace the social model of disability- and may sometimes feel disabled by their environment. A great example of this is Luke Beardon’s golden equation- Autism + Environment = Outcome. We are disadvantaged by our environment because it is set up for the majority neurotype and there is a constant comparison to neurotypical norms. We have our own way of interacting, showing emotions and feelings but it is not their way. It is typically only when we find our own autistic community that our natural way of being is validated.

Hello I understand how you feel. There is sometimes the automatic assumption that anyone who does not fit the norm is disabled. I too feel simply different because I am autistic - I am not disabled because of my neurotype, it is just my natural way of being.

We as autistic people are a minority and therefore because we do things differently from the majority neurotype we are continuously labelled. Thanks to evolution of the Neurodiversity Movement there is growing acceptance of different ways of being human. 

I do understand however that some other autistic people do use and embrace the social model of disability- and may sometimes feel disabled by their environment. A great example of this is Luke Beardon’s golden equation- Autism + Environment = Outcome. We are disadvantaged by our environment because it is set up for the majority neurotype and there is a constant comparison to neurotypical norms. We have our own way of interacting, showing emotions and feelings but it is not their way. It is typically only when we find our own autistic community that our natural way of being is validated.