This year, World Autism Acceptance Week runs from 28 March to 3 April. This promotes acceptance and celebration of autistic people as family members, friends, classmates, co-workers, and community members making valuable contributions to our world. This article is my contribution to World Autism Acceptance Week. I hope it helps someone else out there who is in the same situation I was previously.
All my life people have stated that I appear to be autistic but I had never wanted to know. I used to get very upset at the suggestion of autism and quickly shut down any suggestion of the disability instantly. I saw autism as a bad thing; as a label I didn’t want attached to myself. I felt that women and girls who had autism were treated differently compared to those who were ‘normal’.
A long journey to acceptance
I wanted to just be me, and I didn’t see the need for a label at all. I did not view autism as something that needed to define me. I already felt different and I thought that having the label of autism would make me feel even more so. Being a young person is hard enough without being different: that was my view at the time. I failed to realise that I was different whether I was ready to admit it or not.
I learnt to stop getting so upset over the suggestion of autism if it came from someone who was qualified or someone who worked with young people on the spectrum. I still however wasn’t ready to see the disability within myself. I was getting there…just slowly.
When I went to university, I started to learn more about myself and became more accepting of who I was. I began to realise that it was great to be different and that there is no ‘’normal’.’ Everyone is different in their own way. I hadn’t quite completely accepted my autism but I was certainly on the way.
Vital volunteering
During 2020-2021 I volunteered at City Year and met some outstanding individuals during my time on the leadership programme. I worked with some amazing staff and students who helped me to get to the conclusion that I was autistic and that I was ok with it. I realised that some of the students I worked with have autism and that they were amazing people and I wanted to be like them. The staff also helped me reach that conclusion, as they were there to lead you on a journey of self-discovery. I learnt that I was different and I was thrilled by that. Autism is a part of me. But it isn’t who I am.
I had finally accepted the diagnosis for myself, but I wasn’t yet ready to talk about it with others. In the past year I have developed a strong written voice, which was partly shaped by talking about my disabilities and autism is one of them.
Autism has played such a crucial role in who I’ve become. I now fully accept the disability and am no longer ashamed of it. I have gone on a long journey to accept autism and it felt right to finish the acceptance stage of the journey during Autism Acceptance Week.
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