Autistic Every Day Of My Life…

Here’s a rundown of things I never learned to do, based on my position along the spectrum

Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash

If you haven’t already figured it out when reading my past writings, I fall on the autism spectrum. I have (what used to be known as) Asperger Syndrome, now commonly referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).

In recent years, many mental health advocates have lobbied for the colloquial removal of the Asperger’s moniker, largely due to historical evidence that physician and researcher Hans Asperger (after whom the disorder was named) may have been in league with the Nazis. I was originally diagnosed with Asperger’s, as a high school freshman. However, my parents didn’t explain the intricacies of my condition to me until almost three years later, right before I was about to enter college.

Before I go any further, allow me to recommend Kirsty Kendall’s thought-provoking Medium piece entitled “What If Autistic People Were the Majority?”

Read it (if you haven’t already), and just take a moment to consider what our norms might look like if neurodiverse people (i.e., those of us who have cognitive and behavioral disabilities) were making society’s rules and setting the standards for neurotypical people…