When Allies Say Tragedy Is The Only ‘True’ Representation Of Autism
I’m autistic — and abject tragedy is not my truth.
I don’t consider myself a particularly private person by nature or nurture. I’m autistic, which has given me, like a number of people on the spectrum, a set of boundaries that isn’t always in line with those of the average neurotypical. I also grew up in a family filled with people seemingly incapable of sharing the simplest anecdote without a detailed personal backstory, and I still take many of my social and storytelling cues from them.
I was similarly open — bordering on guileless — when I started to write first-person essays and op-eds about autism, so I was surprised at some of the feedback that my work inspired. Some people argued that it was clear from my work and description of my condition that I wasn’t autistic enough to have a valid opinion on the subject. A few went even further and accused me of lying about my diagnosis. Others believed that I was on the spectrum but were angered at the way I represented myself; they felt that I “glamorized” autism and was glossing over the more serious issues that people like me and the people who care for us face.
If these comments were the work of trolls, I could have eventually convinced myself to dismiss them. But the majority of my detractors…
