I don’t want anyone to feel awkward talking about autism

A woman called Flo shared her experience and conveyed how much she wanted to unmask her autistic traits. She wanted to be more of her ‘authentic self’. And so do I.

 

After sixteen months of waiting, form-filling, researching, and clinical assessments I feel like I finally have some answers. Getting my diagnosis has helped me join the dots between how I work best, what I should embrace, what I struggled with, and what needs to change. More importantly, it’s helped me see that I’m not ‘failing’ or ‘defective’ because I find certain (apparently simple) things challenging.

 

 

 

 

It’s not going to be an overnight thing and in some cases, it means re-writing the perception that people may hold of me - and that’s a difficult thing to do. I wanted to share my diagnosis with anyone and everyone when I found out (it explains so much!) but I was always cautious of the reaction that would come of it, so I was selective. Hearing Flo’s story has given me the confidence to share this more widely and write this piece. I hope I can start to remove the mask I’ve spent years subconsciously building and help others understand along the way.

 

I don’t want anyone to feel awkward talking about autism or asking about my experience - in fact, I’d like to share more about it. And I’d encourage everyone who’s curious about what autism means to take a look at the film!