Entering a New Decade: How Has Autism Impacted Me

Posted on April 12, 2024

I feel as though at this point when it comes to impact, it’s something that I want to imply on a nearly everyday basis… because everything has a meaning! Especially growth. Being an adult with autism and living life compared to dealing with it as a child and growing up, seems to be two very different things. I’ll be referencing part of my old takes on autism and growth from my older blogs and giving it a new, wiser take. Before I take it there, I am very humbled to be in the position that I am in to teach others and most importantly, teach myself!

“Autism is Au-some!”

The thought here is that with ASD, I could view myself being like Clark Kent. As my mother put it—you look like everyone else, you become just like the rest of the environment until you take the glasses off and bust the “S” out of your chest, then you are literally a whole new being. It was one of the highlights of my growth and one of the reasons why I am glad to have a personality with autism. Before I somewhat thought that personality isn’t really a factor in the ASD community in some cases, but now… I know it is!

I am very excited to meet with others who are also able to relate to me, share their highlighted points of interest, and hear what autism means to them. I even want to expand my knowledge on how we got our interests and how we got to where we are with our autism. The impact outside of that is pretty much amazing to know how much I know now and for that, it feels so “Au-Some!” and I cannot be any more grateful for that alone!

Now, despite me not using the term as much, my mother has used to term “Au-some” to the point where I thought “awesome” was actually spelled out like that. That’s where I think I am glad to be autistic, learning and sharing my perspective of the ASD community, and most importantly, myself!

“Puzzling puzzle pieces” and “Living in a puzzling world with infinite possibilities.”

I spend lots of time self-reflecting. I think that one of the things that create future possibilities is the impact of understanding that it’s okay to take your time and be yourself.  I take lots of breaks, even during burnout, because society itself for the autism community is pretty much difficult to bear. There are times where one would get nervous, there’s times where one doesn’t want to go out and do their thing. I personally think this was something my father have told me growing up that “it’s okay to not ask” or “just do and be safe…it’s part of growing up!”

Because I took those strides, it made me write more blogs on exploring life and how I want to perceive it, whether that’s from driving, working out, and possibly even picky eating habits! I still think that this is an area that I am growing up in. I even wish to polish a bit more because the transition from being in one decade (being in my 20’s) to another (heading to my 30’s), I feel as though that things like being social, driving, and working for example are so much different with the lenses that change through growing up.

Personal Progressions and Topic of Change

Weight loss, mental growth, and maturity are three things I’ve been focusing on a lot lately. As I’ve mentioned before, I am reaching a new decade of life and the way I perceive things in life has been so different as I’ve went from being an adult in school to an adult in work. There has been an interesting environmental shift, as I’m taking control of my own narrative and the life I am making.

Going on almost three years in my weight loss journey has taught me the value of consistency. I’ll admit, I am not good at this at all…even though I go to the same places on a day-to-day basis. However, it doesn’t stop me from not understanding how it works, it doesn’t stop me from even trying again. I just work on maintaining my structure, workout plan, and even foods that work for me.

I can pretty much say the same for having my car, my job, and even other responsibilities I have as a growing autistic. I get nervous easily, it’s scary and I can’t bear to take some things, but also, I am confident that I can handle it even if I do have lots of burnout from it. Things are much different now for me compared to how they were before and I feel as though that moving forward, that I have much more to look forward to in the general scope of my life.

So far, it’s been a year since I took an even bigger dive of responsibility where I’ve started to reside by myself. I have lots of support as others are always there for me when I need them. I also know there is lots of support out there for someone living alone who isn’t as socially aware. The responsibilities that come from living alone are so draining that it seems as if there is almost no time to deal with things. However, it did help me realize that people aren’t alone, when you think you are.

Closing

This won’t have any reference to my previous blogs, but I think that with this year, I ultimately feel closer to myself. As I get older, I can only try to use this time to understand myself by reading, communicating, and even teaching others about autism. I believe that these steps that I’ve taken helped me to not only get wiser, but also reach the main goal that I want to achieve at this point of my life which is: “not seeking answers, but rather seeking education.” So that’s where I leave this at, even though I don’t know if I feel like I’m wiser or more accomplished, I want not just myself, but others to know that you aren’t alone and those sense of accomplishments can be used for education and mentally building on those newer steps into life!