Have I Told You That Autism Is My Special Interest?

Since I was a child, I have always filtered everything I am about to do or say through what I now realize is a "neurotypical filter". I imagine the most neurotypical people I know and then I imagine what types of judgements and thoughts they would have about what I am about to say/do. I of course ran this post through that filter and I an guarantee you that they would #1 Have no idea why I would ever post this and think it's just weird and #2 Think I am a complete dork and I would lose some cool points (although I imagine all of my cool points were lost a long time ago). Well, this post is not for them. I still have that annoying filter but I stopped living my life for them a while ago.

I know it’s probably obvious but us Autistics like to make sure we have communicated clearly. Autism is my special interest. I love it. I love meeting people who are Autistic. I love seeing Autism on display. I love learning about the ways in which Autism impacts people. I love watching documentaries about Autism.I simply find Autism endlessly fascinating.

What’s cool is that, as a therapist, I get to interact with Autistic people every day. I get to help them understand and work within the context of their Autistic experience to improve their lives or address complex issues. I get to listen to them as someone who can profoundly relate to their Autistic experiences. Which is huge because a lot of us have felt completely alone in our Autistic experiences, terrified that we were the only ones like us in the world. We were wrong. There are people like us, we are united by the word Autism and it’s a beautiful thing.

Impostor syndrome is real, though. I would say I feel it to some extent every day. I think a lot of us Autistics experience imposter syndrome since we really have had to fake it through a lot of our lives and didn’t get the luxury to be ourselves. The only antidote I have found is to lean more heavily into my Autism and unmask who I am. The more I lean into my Autism, the more I feel like I truly am offering something exceptional, something only someone with my particular Autistic brain could provide.