'“I don’t have accompanying intellectual disability,” I have said, as a way of explaining this disparity, or at least, making sense of it myself.'
That exact sentence seems to come out of my mouth reflexively whenever I tell someone that I was diagnosed autistic. I feel the need immediately to explain, or justify, being autistic when I know people "would never guess" that I could be. I appreciate the road you wind through in this post - it's one I travel on a regular basis!
Loved reading this, I really identify. It's a hard back and forth dialogue isnt it? But your conclusion is absolutely where I land - the reason I sought diagnosis, fought for it, worked hard for it (considering the entire process ironically challenged all the executive functioning issues I have), is because it was and still does, considerably impact my life in a way that causes me distress. And being able to name that distress not only helps me accept that my 'failures' are because of neurological differences (not moral or character flaws, thus alleviating a lot of shame) but also helps those around me to understand why these things happen
'“I don’t have accompanying intellectual disability,” I have said, as a way of explaining this disparity, or at least, making sense of it myself.'
That exact sentence seems to come out of my mouth reflexively whenever I tell someone that I was diagnosed autistic. I feel the need immediately to explain, or justify, being autistic when I know people "would never guess" that I could be. I appreciate the road you wind through in this post - it's one I travel on a regular basis!
Loved reading this, I really identify. It's a hard back and forth dialogue isnt it? But your conclusion is absolutely where I land - the reason I sought diagnosis, fought for it, worked hard for it (considering the entire process ironically challenged all the executive functioning issues I have), is because it was and still does, considerably impact my life in a way that causes me distress. And being able to name that distress not only helps me accept that my 'failures' are because of neurological differences (not moral or character flaws, thus alleviating a lot of shame) but also helps those around me to understand why these things happen