If I asked you to imagine an autistic person, what would you picture? Rain Man? Someone who is withdrawn, doesn’t like to be touched? Or someone who is sitting next to you at work? Your boss? Friends?
I am a highly functioning autistic and I consider this to be an absolute blessing. I share this with the intent to help drive the conversation. To encourage us to look a bit deeper than just what is being presented as it may not always be what you think.
For years I have wondered why I never quite fitted in to ‘mainstream’. Small talk was never quite my thing. Social settings take a bit (lot) of effort. Bright lights and random repetitive noises really annoy me but yet I could listen to the same song on repeat for hours on end – hence wearing headphones a lot!
For a long time, I had put all of this down to immigrating to NZ when I was 10 and never quite having had a decent school grounding. When we arrived in 1983, I could not speak English so let’s just say, it took a while for me to understand what was going on.
Over the years I have learned a few tricks to temper my non sociable traits. For instance, I can engage in small talk or perhaps take a more empathetic approach when my natural disposition would be very unemotional. Was I pretending? No. Rather, I was adapting. It’s what humans do when striving to be a better person. A better friend. A better brother, son, husband.
Sometimes I wonder if self-help books have been written for undiagnosed neurodiverse people!
What I did find I am very good at though is the ability to see patterns. In my case, the patterns relate to ACC and Worksafe legislation. I am very good at spotting nuances and gaps that we can explore for the better of our clients. This comes so naturally to me that it doesn’t require much effort at all. For many years I have wondered why others can’t see this stuff as it’s so obvious. Yet others can’t and in that is why I love being autistic.
I only discovered my autism in recent times, and I must admit to many lightbulb moments since. Context is such a wonderful thing.
The question I ponder though is how many of us are neurodiverse and mask every day to try and fit in to ‘mainstream’? How many are giving themselves upper cuts because we should fit in and blame ourselves when we can’t.
How can we encourage a wider conversation in our businesses and perhaps a bit less ostracising when someone does have ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, or combinations there off? Being autistic does not mean you have an illness or disease. It means your brain works in a different way from other people… or is it that other people work differently to us?
I know for me; it’s been a blessing. Being autistic has allowed me to achieve some very rewarding and empowering experiences. And that was before diagnosis. I am excited at the thought of what else is possible!
