This is my flashlight

I’ve avoided reading much about autism, partially because the little I have read made me angry and partially because of the dumpster fire of self-diagnosis and DSM-5-inspired interpretive dance that has flooded the internet the last few years. Someone recommended Neurotribes to me at one point and it was interesting, but rage-inducing. It’s basically the greatest hits of neurospicy children being tortured by well-intentioned parents, snake oil salesmen, and Nazi mad scientists. Instead, I spent a lot of time just thinking about my particular flavor of spiciness, how it affects me and others, and trying to sit with all of that on my own. That’s been productive, but I’ve reached a point of “now what?” How do other people deal with some of the challenges that led to burnout (and threaten it in the future)? How do I even talk about myself to others? You tell someone you’re autistic and they roll through all the data points they have for that. Non-verbal, violent kids. Temple Grandin. Rain…