Column by Autistic takes on stereotypes
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ASPartOfMe
Veteran

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 38,084
Location: Long Island, New York
Autism Awareness Week: Stop telling me I don’t ‘look’ autistic – it’s not something you can see
Rachael Lucas is a successful writer whose YA novel The State of Grace – about a teenage girl with Asperger’s syndrome who is trying to work out how to fit in, and whether she even wants to – is published on April 6. She lives with her partner and children in Southport.
Quote:
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m lively and outgoing and, well, loud. Couple this with being a working, creative professional and people get confused.
I’ve been told more than once that ‘your autism must be very mild, otherwise you wouldn’t have the imagination you need to work as a writer’. The common assumption that those with autism always lack imagination is completely wrong – we can be as imaginative and creative as anyone else.
Another thing that people like to comment on is the fact that I spend a lot of my time bouncing around social media with photos of things I’ve done and places I’ve been – surely no one with Aspergers would be able to cope with a busy social life?
Finding it difficult to be sociable doesn’t mean that I don’t want to do it, even if I do have to take time out afterwards to recover.
I’ve been told more than once that ‘your autism must be very mild, otherwise you wouldn’t have the imagination you need to work as a writer’. The common assumption that those with autism always lack imagination is completely wrong – we can be as imaginative and creative as anyone else.
Another thing that people like to comment on is the fact that I spend a lot of my time bouncing around social media with photos of things I’ve done and places I’ve been – surely no one with Aspergers would be able to cope with a busy social life?
Finding it difficult to be sociable doesn’t mean that I don’t want to do it, even if I do have to take time out afterwards to recover.
_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
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