I know I shared about pride earlier this year, but it’s something that I feel bears repeating to most of my fellow Spectrumites.
First, let me explain that the subjects I’ve shared so far are things that I go constantly in my own life. I struggle with self esteem issues, lapses of self confidence, speaking up when I need to just to name a few. I know how hard it can be to speak to others, let alone be yourself around Neurotypicals. I can only relate that experience to the movie Selena, which chronicles the late Tejano star’s life and career before her tragic end.
In one part of the movie, while contemplating going to Mexico during her music career, her father says that they need to be “more American than the Americans and more Mexican than the Mexicans.” The next line sums up the feeling we share when we mask whom we are, the bright, intelligent, quirky people we are: “It’s exhausting!”
With that being said, though, it’s time for us to be proud of the wonderful, the intelligent, the simply au-some people we are inside. The best thing we can do, Spectrumites and Neurotypicals alike, is talk to people that we can trust about our problems and our concerns. Who knows how many Temple Grandins, Albert Einsteins and Donna Williams can be discovered by disclosing who we are deep inside? Of course, that is a choice that I leave to you, my readers. That said, there are organizations (Autism-society.org and Grasp.org, just to name a few) that can support you and help you follow your dreams and help you….
Shine On!!
The Autistic SuperBlog 