It's #AutisticPrideDay and, you know what, I am proud. I wasn't. It took me years to be proud. It took me years to realise it is part of me. It took me years to realise it makes me better at what I do when I acknowledge it. I wasn't always proud to be autistic. I am now though 1/
Twitter helped with that. I have met and seen so many people on here who helped me realise that being autistic isn't something I need to feel "ashamed of" or "hide from". I can't possibly list all of them here, but to all those who have helped, thank you. 2/
Being #ActuallyAutistic means navigating a world not designed for you. It can be hard. It means being stereotyped. It means being simultaneously dismissed as unable to do things, while it is also assumed you must have some savant superpower. 3/
It means people trying to take away your voice because if you dare to have one then you "can't be autistic enough to have one". It's living in a world full of contradictions when contradictions and "subtext" are things you struggle with. 4/
It also means joy though. The same way I feel other emotions intensely I feel happiness. It's seeing things in a different way, and being able, for me at least, because this is only my experience, to piece things together and communicate it to others. 5/
It's about feeling empathy on a whole different level. It's about being me. That's the rub. I am proud of who I am, of what I have achieved in my life. When I was diagnosed I thought that being autistic would take that away, but I was always autistic and always will be. 6/
Even when I didn't know I was. When I was the "weirdo" and "freak" at school, and after. I was still autistic. What I achieved then and now are because, not despite, of it. I know many people struggle with being autistic, and I'm not diminishing that. I did, but now I am proud 7/
I've a wonderful family who I love with all my heart. I have a good job, and do it well. I am me. That's it, just me, but "me" is autistic and being so has shaped the way I think and act. Yes, I am different from other people, but I am proud of who I am. #AutisticPrideDay2021 8/
I get overwhelmed at times. I can meltdown or shutdown. The world is a big horrible place. I focus on human rights and I feel everything. That's not easy. Things being easy doesn't make them right though. I'm proud of what I do, and, for me, I do it well because I am autistic. 9/
It was my daughter's 21st birthday yesterday, and knowing and accepting myself I booked today off to recover some energy, but I am so proud of her and so proud to be her dad. Accepting that I am autistic means being honest with her and myself and I am proud of that. 10/
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