Undiagnosed: Life On The Spectrum
A Short Tale of Stigma, Shame, and Selfishness
“I might hit developmental and societal milestones in a different order than my peers, but I am able to accomplish these small victories on my own time.” — Haley Moss
I stood in the kitchen holding a box of pasta shells. My hands were shaky and sweaty. My mouth was getting dry and ears were getting hot.
My Lady and I were starting to prepare a delicious recipe for our 1st-anniversary dinner, but there I was on the verge of an anxiety attack.
Why? Because we didn’t have a pot big enough to hold the amount of pasta we were about to cook. I hadn’t accounted for this small deviation from what the recipe called for.
The plan and routine that I’d gone over in my head were ruined. I didn’t know how to pivot because I was not prepared for possibly having to use two pots instead of one.
Of course, the results would have been the same, but the methods used would have been different.
My brain couldn’t compute until my Lady walked over and gently took the box out of my hands. She told me to go take a seat and have a glass of wine to gather myself.
She moved around the kitchen gracefully as she divided the contents evenly between two pots of…
