I’m 10 years old, away at my first sleepover camp. The rest of the girls in my cabin are trying to put together a skit for the camp’s variety show, and I can see that it isn’t going to come together the way they imagine. I have a sixth sense about these things, like I’m on the outside looking in when I’m supposed to be part of something. I want to speak up and tell them how to fix it, but I’ve learned that being a know-it-all does not make me popular.
There was always something about me that most people considered “different.” As a kid, I didn’t enjoy sitcoms or skip rope like other girls my age. I wasn’t comfortable hugging friends, but I did love listening to discussions about politics. I’ve always been talkative and inquisitive, which wore out the patience of my friends and sometimes even the adults around me. My Grade 4 report summarized my social deficiencies with “needs improvement.” I stuck out, but I gradually learned to be less conspicuous.
It wasn’t until I turned 46 that I learned my uniqueness has a name: autism.
That was over three years ago. My diagnosis was like discovering a piece of my brain, picking it up, putting it in place and feeling whole for the first time. This was also like receiving the key to unlock my life and live for the first time—according to my own values, principles, beliefs and choices instead of weighed down by the expectations and assumptions of others. What I’ve found out since is that there are a significant number of others like me— individuals who weren’t identified as having autism until midlife. And for reasons that are still coming to light, many of them are women.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2020-Ausgabe von Reader's Digest Canada.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2020-Ausgabe von Reader's Digest Canada.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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