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"I’ve stopped saying I ‘have Autism’ – being autistic is brilliant, not a burden"

Steven

'We are not a homogeneous group, and I recognise that a lot of autistic people, particularly the non-verbal community, may have a different lived experience. Learning difficulties and other comorbidities can add an extra complication. But for me there are plenty of positives associated with being autistic, which is why language is so important.'

More:

www.theguardian.com/.../autism-autistic-positive-neurodiversity

Parents

  • I prefer to think of it as I have autism and that comes with it's own set of pros and cons*, I'm different, not lesser than a non autistic person. I used to avoid saying the word autistic back when I had internalised abelism and a lower self esteem that kind of gaslit me into thinking I deserved to be "othered" but now I don't shy away from it because I'm not ashamed to be autistic and I don't think treating it as a "dirty secret" is ever going to be the way to normalise autism acceptance.
    So I'm more: I've started saying I am autistic - because being autistic is brilliant, not a burden.

    *For me that most frequently looks like a reduction of energy and cope-ability compared to my closest allist but also compared to them an increase in perception and efficiency. To make it work in their allistic built world I need to carefully manage my time, stress, and energy expendature.
    Like yes I'm high maintenance, so is a thoroughbred racehorse compared to a trekking pony. Some days I'm skittish and don't want to leave my box. Haha. In that way we are doubly metaphorically "horses for courses".
    Being autistic in an allistic oriented world is like being the Linux of Operating systems. :)

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  • I prefer to think of it as I have autism and that comes with it's own set of pros and cons*, I'm different, not lesser than a non autistic person. I used to avoid saying the word autistic back when I had internalised abelism and a lower self esteem that kind of gaslit me into thinking I deserved to be "othered" but now I don't shy away from it because I'm not ashamed to be autistic and I don't think treating it as a "dirty secret" is ever going to be the way to normalise autism acceptance.
    So I'm more: I've started saying I am autistic - because being autistic is brilliant, not a burden.

    *For me that most frequently looks like a reduction of energy and cope-ability compared to my closest allist but also compared to them an increase in perception and efficiency. To make it work in their allistic built world I need to carefully manage my time, stress, and energy expendature.
    Like yes I'm high maintenance, so is a thoroughbred racehorse compared to a trekking pony. Some days I'm skittish and don't want to leave my box. Haha. In that way we are doubly metaphorically "horses for courses".
    Being autistic in an allistic oriented world is like being the Linux of Operating systems. :)

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