A Letter to My Family Who Ignores that I’m Autistic
Dear Family Who Ignores that I’m Autistic,
I wish you cared that I’m autistic.
When I told you over a year ago, you blankly stared at me. You didn’t have much to say at all in fact. That’s ok, I know it can be pretty overwhelming information.
What hurt is that you never asked any follow up questions. I tried to bring it back up at other times again, but it was still met with the same quiet stares, or a change of subject.
I’ve always felt very distant from you. Like you didn’t know me or understand me.
Now I feel like I hold the key to understanding who I am and how I move in the world. And you don’t care.
I wish you would ask me a question.
I wish you would read an article or a book.
I wish you would ask me to recommend something if you don’t know where to start.
I wish you would even acknowledge that I’m autistic.
It feels like this huge elephant in the room.
My whole life is now centered around autism. I am a therapist who specializes in autism. All of my writing is about autism. I fly to conferences for autism. I finally am in a successful relationship because we both understand my autistic needs.
