Hi ️

Hi everyone  

My name is Hannah but like to be called Han for short. I was diagnosed ‘high functioning’ autistic in 2019 at the age of 25, now 28 and am still trying to navigate what being autistic means for me. I mask heavily and always have done, and can feel like those closest to me try to squash my autism out of me (it is only really my Mum and my closest friend friend that acknowledges my autism, but my Mum does still try to get me to behave neurotypically often) but am now trying hard to safely unmask. Where I appear ‘most autistic’ is around sensory differences, and am highly sensitive to light, sound and taste, but also am learning, as I try to unmask, that I do struggle in the neurotypical world with other things as well, such as socialising, literal thinking and executive function. I have also had anorexia for 14 years (but am doing very well in my recovery now and finally feel I am getting somewhere) and believe me being undiagnosed autistic for so long contributed to the development and maintenance of my eating disorder.

I don’t know if I have ‘special interests’ but I like cats, illustrating by painting or drawing, meditating, yoga, walking, reading, Noel Gallagher High Flying Birds, baking, and quiet spaces! Also am a big advocate of mindfulness and slow living.

I thought I would join the NAS community as a means of communicating with other autistic people and hopefully find a sense of belonging, understanding and help me (and maybe others) to understand what being autistic means for them. I hope this wasn’t too long, I’m a bit nervous posting as I haven’t used a forum in 10+ years and tend to ramble on when I’m nervous, and hope I didn’t say anything wrong. I feel like I’m still learning the language to use so please correct me if I ever do say anything incorrect!

Thanks for reading ️