We are all
looking for our normal. We are led to believe most people find it at a young
age. Some slot easily into place, to become part of the over-arching social
machine. Some of us however, cannot find a niche or an opening to enter. We
have no place to fit into. We are the metaphorical square pegs that our
teachers hammered on ineffectually. Souls both dispossessed and disembodied, that float
outside the barriers, pushed back into no man’s land.
Yet there is
hope. We are coming out of the dark. Some of us more long-lived than others, lighting beacons for others to follow in our footsteps. To find enlightenment sooner than we did. Candle-lit by our own internal fires. This space that is outside the ‘norm’ is now far from empty. We only need to look. Being on the outside means that some of us will gravitate together through the formless roads of these badlands. One such place that makes this possible is the endless void of cyberspace.
Don't believe it? Just type #ActuallyAutistic or #Neurodiversity into Twitter. Or look at the hundreds of myriad blogs and other creative works created by wonderfully neurodiverse beings, listed at:
https://anautismobserver.wordpress.com/2017/11/09/discovering-autistic-perspectives/
or: https://www.theautisticadvocate.com/2018/03/a-perspective-on-diagnosis.html .
The proof of our passing is there for those who look for it. Our footprints are being left like breadcrumbs, for others to find. And in the finding, to find themselves, not knowing that they were looking. And whenever we touch each other's lives there now exists a new meeting place of kindred minds.
Once separate beings, when we find each other, we forge our own links, becoming stronger. On the outer rim of traditional social circles, there is a new golden chain. Each individual can be linked and stand supporting the others. Brethren of a unique sort, we are a circle of our own. What was cast away and hidden in the dark, has reached its full potential on its own merits. The whispers in the shadows are becoming a shout.
Don't believe it? Just type #ActuallyAutistic or #Neurodiversity into Twitter. Or look at the hundreds of myriad blogs and other creative works created by wonderfully neurodiverse beings, listed at:
https://anautismobserver.wordpress.com/2017/11/09/discovering-autistic-perspectives/
or: https://www.theautisticadvocate.com/2018/03/a-perspective-on-diagnosis.html .
The proof of our passing is there for those who look for it. Our footprints are being left like breadcrumbs, for others to find. And in the finding, to find themselves, not knowing that they were looking. And whenever we touch each other's lives there now exists a new meeting place of kindred minds.
Once separate beings, when we find each other, we forge our own links, becoming stronger. On the outer rim of traditional social circles, there is a new golden chain. Each individual can be linked and stand supporting the others. Brethren of a unique sort, we are a circle of our own. What was cast away and hidden in the dark, has reached its full potential on its own merits. The whispers in the shadows are becoming a shout.
Cogs together in the machine, becoming sentient and self-advocating. Forging for ourselves a place where we fit in. Stepping into the light, we are our own normal: Autistic and proud.
