New resource for the uninitiated

[old_cutter_john]

Our friends at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, in collaboration with the Autism NOW Center, have put together a Welcome to the Autistic Community for the benefit of newly-identified autistics. If you need to get oriented, give it a look; if you know someone who needs to get oriented, pass it along. It's also available in an adolescent edition

Comments

[alobar]

I just joined. Many thanks I like their scholarship program for s poor folks. I like their motto.

[twofootsmall]

Many, many thanks.

[rymrytr]

Most interesting read. While there are a few things that I find that apply to my situation, I mainly see that Autism isn't my diagnosis...

I feel like there are two sheets of paper, laid side-by-side, touching, on a desk top. One is those clearly defined autistic, and the other, those who are not autistic. I think I fall in between the sheets... somewhere in that tiny, narrow band of space. If it were dimensions, I'd be in the void between.

I'm saving the PDF though, for further reading and knowledge. Thank you for posting it!

[old_cutter_john]

When I first became aware of Asperger's Disorder, as it was called then, about ten years ago, my feelings were similar. But, like you, I'd been living a long time, and I'd adapted pretty well to the neurotypical world, so my autistic traits didn't seem pervasive enough for me to really be autistic. Looking back, though, it took a lot of work over many years to achieve that degree of adaptation, and most of the world still felt wrong to me. Over the course of the following year, I came to realize that I'm autistic, and I'd always been autistic, and I'll always be autistic. Perhaps it'll be the same for you.

[knowledgequeen]

I actually worked on this guide with ASAN, and I think it does a pretty decent job at orientation. Obviously, small details are going to differ for everyone, though.