“‘You’re WAY too sensitive.’ They don’t know I am constantly aware of the clock ticking, people typing, colleagues moving, screens shining, lamp shining, them laughing, the radio playing. This world is so LOUD.”
‘You’re just NOT trying hard enough.’ I KNEW I was different, but I tried to brush it off. Then something magical happened.’: Woman diagnosed with autism shares journey, ‘I will live a BEAUTIFUL life’
‘He’ll grow out of it,’ they’d say. I didn’t. I spent YEARS masking myself to fit who I thought I needed to be. I learned to celebrate my differences.’: LGBTQ man waiting for autism diagnosis, ‘I was BORN this way’
“I began to only stim in the privacy of my bedroom or the bathroom and treated it like a dirty secret I’d hopefully grow out of, along with my attraction to boys and all things deemed feminine.“
‘It’s like having a neighbor from hell, but the annoying neighbor is your own brain and they’re never moving out. You’re stuck with them forever.’: Woman advocates for neurodiversity, ‘The hardest battle is the one I fight against myself every day’
“You know you have to be up at 4:15 for work, but the neighbor’s throwing a party again and you can’t get to sleep. You’re constantly frustrated. I wanted to address it. I needed to address it.”
‘Can I give the a tree a hug?’ She tells me her brain is stuck. ‘Why is the sun shining?’: Caretaker of an autistic child insists ‘I am a better person because of her. I see the world in a changed way.’
“I said, ‘Break a leg!’ She got furious and started yelling at me, ‘Why do you want me to break a leg?? She takes things exactly the way they are, what you say is what she hears, and she processes the language just as it’s spoken. Katy has her own unique way of thinking, which I adore.”
‘I find you arrogant, rude, disrespectful and jealous.’ A workplace conflict left me hurt. She didn’t believe a single word.’: Woman learns of autism diagnosis at 23, ‘I finally learned the truth. I am not broken’
“Teachers would say, ‘Lauren is very polite, gifted, such a cute little girl.’ My peers started to reject me. My school life was marred by rumors and taunts. I began to tell myself, ‘There is something wrong with you.’ I could never remember to bathe. I once went half a year without washing my hair. At age 23, I finally learned the truth. I am autistic. I am not broken.”
