Just love me. Love my brain, love my self.
http://www.nancyfulda.com/movement-a-short-story-about-autism-in-the-future
It really is a gorgeous and poetic story. At least one member of the support group I'm in has pre-judged it because there is the concept of a "cure" via grafting in the brain, but said treatment is clumsy and doesn't always work. So, hey, I always say read the story before claiming "if it's about cures it's not beautiful." It's not about cures, it's about living in a mind that sees the world in a way that most people never will.
Autism is vastly different than my other disabilities. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of my brain, everything it has accomplished and attempted during its neuroplastic growth. And having a mother who, while thankfully is not a raging martyr mommy, is at least accepting and respectful of the idea that autistics generally don't want any cure, is good good. I am still so grateful that I wasn't diagnosed until adulthood. And that self-diagnosis is just as valid as a piece of paper from doctors; most auttstics who realize they are autistic (I had both and also encouragement from autists who have known themselves for years and years). It's not that "we were diagnosed with autism" - it's that we realized that our autism makes us what we are. I'm different and I love it. I don't want to assimilate with neurotypical brains. Like the girl in the linked story, I want to look at the universe on the atomic level and know how beautiful it is.
It really is a gorgeous and poetic story. At least one member of the support group I'm in has pre-judged it because there is the concept of a "cure" via grafting in the brain, but said treatment is clumsy and doesn't always work. So, hey, I always say read the story before claiming "if it's about cures it's not beautiful." It's not about cures, it's about living in a mind that sees the world in a way that most people never will.
Autism is vastly different than my other disabilities. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of my brain, everything it has accomplished and attempted during its neuroplastic growth. And having a mother who, while thankfully is not a raging martyr mommy, is at least accepting and respectful of the idea that autistics generally don't want any cure, is good good. I am still so grateful that I wasn't diagnosed until adulthood. And that self-diagnosis is just as valid as a piece of paper from doctors; most auttstics who realize they are autistic (I had both and also encouragement from autists who have known themselves for years and years). It's not that "we were diagnosed with autism" - it's that we realized that our autism makes us what we are. I'm different and I love it. I don't want to assimilate with neurotypical brains. Like the girl in the linked story, I want to look at the universe on the atomic level and know how beautiful it is.