We don’t always recognise our worth because, we think to ourselves:
how can I be good, when society treats me poorly? How CAN a disability or Autism be a gift…
🥺When my humanity is wrongfully stripped, by stigma?
🥺When society tries to makes me change, teaching me i am bad or wrong, simply for being myself?
Indeed- it’s an understandable plight-
🥺How can we feel pride for the part of our identity that allows us to be hurt so much?
🥺how can I feel pride when autism is a disability for me?
How? Because:
💫 it was NEVER your fault that society misunderstood. Autism didn’t hurt you- society did.
💫you were never in the wrong for being yourself- no matter the stigma or judgement.
💫 you were trying to be ‘better’ in society’s eyes- & that takes huge courage & huge determination to be good- there should be pride in that effort & wish to be better.
💫 there’s nothing wrong with you.
No matter what.
Even when you’ve messed up & feel like villain, as long as you try to make amends when it is healthy to, You are the hero in your story.
🌟You haven’t made amends yet? There’s still time. you have potential to try, always. It’s not your fault people stigmatise what it means to try🌟
💫That innate need to be good,
that wish for pride, that anxiety that you’re a bad person, who should change yourself,
that desire to mask - is exactly what makes you a good person (although I hope you feel safe to remove the mask…)
🌟Bad people don’t worry about being bad. Bad people don’t worry about changing themselves🌟
Good people deserve pride due to their humanity- & so do you. No matter what.
💫 it’s true; autism can be painful, whether it be physical or mental or emotional, but the pain is not something you are doing wrong, it’s not a lack of effort, it is simply a hardship that hurts, but is not a bad thing about you as a person. Sometimes it hurts because it’s our body’s way of telling us to rest and recover so we can better process information to stay safe and thrive in a way that works for us. Sometimes it’s society that doesn’t let us listen to our bodies to minimise the pain. Either way, autism tries to teach us how to be better in a. Way that works for us- just like how non autistic people have warning systems that tell them to avoid what harms them- like pain signals to avoid them touching something that burns, or a pain signal that tells them they are stressed and need to be careful what they eat to avoid being sickly. We have the same, the difference is that our coping mechanisms are not normalised to help us and instead actively ignored and abused, which makes the pain worse, and that’s not our fault and it’s not autisms fault either, but the fault of our misunderstanding society.
💫True-Many people advocate for pride by listing our quirks & how we can help society with savant abilities- we are taught that autism’s pride is about what autistic people offer or contribute to society- as if that is the only reason we deserve pride & support or access.
🌟This isn’t true or healthy Autism Pride🌟
As someone who is quirky, talented & award winning - the truth is that none of that stuff matters in true Autism pride, because true Autism Pride is 100% about empowering a person, because they are human-not inspiration p0rn or what we can offer.
✨Autism Pride is about us. Our humanity. Our worth; no matter what stigma says✨
💫i also feel autism pride due to my unique gifts in kindness-honesty, loyalty, selflessness, empathy, punctuality, motivation, passion & innate need for justice.
I see my disability as a gift & I feel pride; but goodness my autistic gift is definitely a severe disability for me. my disability doesn’t mean that Autism can’t also be a gift or that I can’t feel pride.
The two can coexist.
Truth:
🌟Taking away or masking my autism disability WILL NOT HELP🌟 My autism pride should never depend on a mask.
💫am I disabled greatly by my autistic identity -✨YES✨
My autism pride should never depend on how little I impact society.
💫do I cost society? -✨YES✨
My pride should never depend on how much support I need.
💫Does my autism mean I can not work or ‘contribute’ in society? - ✨YES✨
My pride should never depend on what I can offer society or people.
💫do I still have autism pride? -✨YES✨
✨I love my autism - even though it does disable me-because none of the hardships remove my worth or humanity✨
💫my autism acceptance and pride should NEVER depend on how I impact other people, or how much help I need, because I am worthy of respect and good things and have potential to feel better, no matter how much help I need and no matter how disabled I am.
🌟With my autism pride, I also have pride in the power of good people🌟
Who are endlessly fighting the good fight; empowering society to challenge misconceptions & treat us how we deserve- with pride, in our humanity & not just what we offer them.
🌟Society is improving because good people are not giving up!🌟
💫Bridging the gap between gift and disability is essential to mindful thriving and healthy autism acceptance because to me, there’s no reason aside from ableism and societal misconceptions that paints a disability as being unworthy of also being a gift.
💫A disability does not remove humanity or worth or motivation or potential, it merely means you are disabled and disabled is not a dirty word.
💫Disabled is not an insult. True acceptance comes from understanding and accepting your hardships and limitation and disability if you have one- if you are disabled but ignore it to pretend you have superpowers you are merely at the bargaining stage of acceptance.
💫Ofcourse, some people are disabled by autism and some are not- some have superpowers and some dont. That’s fine.
💫It’s not for anyone to tell another how to identify. the important part is to respect all identities and bridge the gap between disability and gift so more people feel safe to be empowered as 100% who they are - disabled and all - and not the toxic positivity that society teaches them they should be.
💫We can have gifts and still be disabled because neither cancels the other one out with true healthy autism acceptance.
💫for me, I’m 100% disabled and that’s okay because it says nothing bad about my worth or efforts or potential or humanity.
💫However it IS hard to discover a gift when you are disabled…
So what can we do to help?
💫✨Fighting potential hate with love, empowerment & acceptance of diversity✨
💫campaign
💫try to share your story’s -IF safe to
💫don’t shame yourself for ‘not doing enough’ & do take care of YOU.
💫learn more about diversity & autistic people, from Autistic people. Social media is a great place to start!
💫find what autism pride means for you- & try to believe in the power of yet- you’re worth the wait, & you deserve to feel proud of your kindness & humane efforts to improve.
🧚🏻♀️Find out why I love my disability as a gift with my new autism resource book…. And maybe we can learn to fly and bridge that gap, together!🧚🏻♀️
Do you feel autism pride? Do you flit between acceptance and gift and disability and bargaining? What’s your story? Whatever it is, it’s perfectly valid, and whatever it is, you still have potential to feel better. Let’s chat!
🧚🏻♀️Www.MyAutisticwings.co.uk (link in bio)
#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Autistic #AutismPride #LoveMyAutism #ImAutisticAndProud #AutisticAndProud
llustration photo: Getty images creator urbazon
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