Paula Durbin-Westby has been publishing a series of interviews with autistic people on the subject of Acceptance.
Mine is the latest one that she has posted on her Autism Acceptance Day blog.
Please take a look and tell me what you think. Also, poke around her site for many useful links and lots of good information.
The The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism has also published a link to the interview on their Facebook page.
Sample:
What do you think about autism acceptance and awareness, other than your efforts with the Massachusetts Autism Commission?
Awareness has played a huge role in my own life in recent years. Life is much better for me now that I am aware that I am autistic. For me, too, awareness has led, slowly and painfully at first, later with much enthusiasm, to acceptance. I now embrace being autistic, and realize that my difference has been a source of much of the joy in my life, and not just some of the sorrow. I’m still a bit buffaloed by the Executive Function thing, and am working hard to improve my abilities there.
In many areas of my life, awareness and acceptance have led to an inner peace that had always been elusive to me. I had always wondered why so many of the sensory experiences that bothered me didn’t seem to affect those around me. Now that I understand that these annoyances arise from the way my autistic brain processes things, I have learned to either shrug them off (acceptance) or to take steps to reduce the anxiety and stress they produce. I can, for example, avoid places with bright lights or excessive noise. I now feel different, instead of weird, or that there is something “wrong” with me.
