Thread: I’m autistic.
Ask me (almost) anything.
I’m autistic.
I’ve known for a while. I’m sorry for not being open about it sooner to those for whom it might have made a difference. I was waiting to get a diagnosis.
And then I was waiting for the ‘right’ moment.
And then I was waiting to get a long essay about the journey and the discovery and the issues perfect before posting.
And then I was wondering if the essay might not be a book, and if I ought to wait till it was written and published.
And then I noticed how sick I am of pretending to be someone I’m not, to everyone, for my entire life. And how this is the thing that’s informed three years or my writing and thinking and it’s time to talk about it. And how shame and secrecy were clotting my capacity to write. And how scared I was of being judged, or disbelieved, or never hired again.
And then I had an hour to kill in a cafe in a strange city, and I was pottering around on Twitter and saw some predictable ableist nonsense go by, and I just said it.
I’m autistic.
Ask me anything. I’ll be in the thread this evening, and will do another soon for those in different timezones.
Congratulations! I learned that I'm autistic last year and it was one of the most revelatory events of my life. I looked back and recontextualized so much of how I've acted, how I've reacted, how people have responded to me, how I work best, and more. My new self-knowledge is such a relief and I hope it's the same for you. It informs how I make choices and how I give myself the best chance of success in a world that still isn't set up to accommodate neurodiverse people. Warm thoughts to you!
just wanted to thank you for doing this. it’s a service. autism runs in my family and i’ve also been in relationships with spectrum folks. there is so much i wish i’d known, the conversations were never had, and the diagnoses never discovered in some cases. everything seems so clear in hindsight that it’s heartbreaking. open-heart things like this will help a lot of people. thank you. ♥️♥️