Autism Acceptance ā¤ļøšā¾
Today is āWorld Autism Awareness Dayā but Iām calling for Autism Acceptance. The world is āawareā weāre out there, but it has a long way to go in accepting autistic people, including them in representation & policy & initiatives for autism; destigmatizing accessibility needs, sensitivities, & challenging stereotypes that deny the profound spectrum nature of autism; & looking for autistic people as the experts on themselves.
While Iāve shared here before, I donāt often talk about the fact that Iām on the autism spectrum (ASD), my diagnosis aligning formerly with Aspergerās.
Do you know how I recognized that I was on the spectrumāwhat led me to seek and receive formal diagnosis?
I read a romance novel.
āDon't turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That's where the light enters you.ā ā Rumi
August 4, my first #OwnVoices romance, Always Only You (Bergman Brothers #2) will be out in the world. Writing & publishing my first autistic character is both a pride & a vulnerabilityāitās not just gazing on my bandaged place but inviting you to gaze there, too.
AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH is almost over, but before it ends, I wanted to spend more time talking about autism in fiction & life. For this photo, I pulled the only romances about autistic people that I know of & support either as #OwnVoice stories or as well-researched, compassionate portrayals.
Iāve got only one problem with this tiny stack. I want more. More opportunities to broaden understanding & empathy in the transformative experience of reading.
I tried to read a book recently that purports to be about love featuring a woman with autism but wasnāt written by a woman with ASD. Could be that it was based off of someone the author knew but itās dangerous to rely on such narrow material as one person when youāre representing something as historically ill-understood and nuanced. If I had to narrow down my grievance with the womanās characterization here it is: it was a stereotype, jammed full of every type of social faux-pas and impulse control failing a person with autism might have, including portraying the woman as emotionless and callous, wrapped up in a bow of a damaging love triangle.
Itās Autism Awareness Day & for those who donāt know, Iām autistic! I was diagnosed a year ago & today Iām sharing my perspective in the hope of broadening understanding & empathy.
I think of autistics as bearers of the Mona Lisa Smile. Weāre among you, but not quite the same, carrying bittersweet mystery beneath our surface. Inside us is a sense that the world is counterintuitiveāwords arenāt literal, expressions confuse, noises startle & our soothing movements are considered āoddā. Inside some is tenderness for animals, in others a sense of patterns, in many solitude & unexplainable feeling. We canāt handle lots of relationships but we love deeply. When we love you we must learn youāthe meaning of your jokes & expressions, your behavior & tone, in the pursuit of loving intimacy.
Six months ago, weeks after I joined this platform as an author, I sat across the desk of an evaluating psychologist who told me what Iād known in my bones my whole lifeāIām different.
Specifically, I have autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder, which affects my ability to navigate the loud, crammed, social, subtle world through which Iāve been swimming upstream.
The moment he told me, I was relieved. I can only tell you that to go from a confused little girl who doesnāt understand why loud noises make her scream, why jump scares make her weep, why tags and seams feel like knives in her skin, why the need for a deep hard hug and no featherlight touch is who she is...
