Note to a Younger Autistic Friend… 👴📝📬

johnnyprofane1
3 min readOct 17, 2020

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Dark, abstract, original illustration.
Dark, abstract, original illustration.

Note to a younger autistic friend, corrected by a teacher for being… well, autistic.

Sweetie…

Sometimes… it doesn’t pay to be autistic.

I am the worst autist in the world. I TRY to express concern…

9 times outta 10… comes out preachy.

You touched me with your story. I’m TRYING to write like a grandpa… with love.

I’m 67.

I can’t begin to count the number of similar stories of my own that sprang into my mind as I read yours.

I’d like to tell you it gets better.

But it’s more complex than that. Humans don’t change. Autists don’t change.

Cats never become dogs.

Neither needs to be cured. Or, apparently, can be.

What changes is a long, slow process of acceptance & accommodation.

You slowly learn to find humans who are a better fit. You enjoy their company… for however long. They enjoy your company… for however long.

My wife and I live separately. Deeply, deeply in love. That may be what we love most about each other.

Even though it’s “wrong.” “Weird.” “Just not right.”

It is so HARD to find our autistic joy. Everything and everyone in this society… including family, friends, teachers, bosses, doctors, priests, therapists…

Have been taught… from birth… precisely the wrong cultural messages to help US thrive.

With obvious rare exceptions. Please excuse the dramatic hyperbole. (Okay, okay… so this autistic grandpa has been known to exaggerate from time to time…)

We CAN’T bark like dogs… and engage in disgusting rituals… and go out and play with all the other dogs…

Just so they’ll like us. Or make our parents happy…

So we’re NOT disappointing children, unreliable besties, students who don’t live up to their potential, non-team players, hypochondriacs, sinners, shudder… borderline personalities…

We’re just not “good” dogs.

We’re extraordinary cats.

Doing the impossible. Surviving in a dog’s world. Day by day.

But it’s more complex than THAT…

Everybody knows a cat and a dog who love each other like brothers…

And I know a very few neurotypical humans who I am CERTAIN were separated from me at birth…

But also… I’ve come to mostly favor the company of other metaphorical cats… and similar felines.

Nearly all of my intimates are autistic, adhd, schizophrenics, or similar neurodivergencies… or who ALREADY love someone with similar differences…

Or are simply that rare human who LIKES autists. Cat and dog soulmates.

I simply followed my rare moments of bliss and reduced the more frequent experiences of pain.

Because I had no one else to guide me for 63 years.

So I gradually added more “forbidden” experiences… like special interests, stimming, isolating when necessary… that I was discouraged, even punished for…

And gradually deleted other experiences that were the “right thing to do”… career expectations, pursuing perfection, seeing folks who I felt bad around… including family….

At first, guiltily. Because it was always, always “wrong.”

And always, slowly. Through trial & error. Cuz frankly, I learn slower than the average bear. AND I am autistic… so I’m usually the last to know I’m in pain or bliss. Cuz poor interoception.

But steadily. Maybe, even doggedly…

And eventually… joyfully.

I now have few friends.

But I have more love than I’ve ever known in my life.

And can show more. To them. And others.

All of which gives me #AutisticJoy.

I hope it’s different for you.

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Originally published at http://autisticaf.me on October 17, 2020.

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johnnyprofane1
johnnyprofane1

Written by johnnyprofane1

One Voice. Raw. Real. Fiercely Neurodivergent.

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