Why Did I Do This?

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Think about how difficult it is to explain an experience. As a child, someone once challenged me to describe the flavor of salt to someone who had never tasted it. This is just a simplistic example of explaining autistic experiences to neurotypicals; the gap in understanding is so wide, you might as well be speaking a different language. As the character in the movie said, "It would be impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame of reference."

I have a habit of arguing in my head. The biggest advantage that I can see from it is that I always win regardless of which side I'm arguing. In this case, however, I was arguing that so many neurotypicals cannot really understand what autistics go through no matter how many TED Talks they watch because, for us, it's an ongoing experience and many of us simply don't have the language or the patience to explain it to someone who has no common frame of reference.

That was sort of my hope with this project: for those of us who have the ability to express our autistic experiences on a platform so that others who may not have those experiences can at least hear what it's like to be us from us.

Think about it like this: if you went to the fifth grade in the United States, you were required to learn the 50 states and their capital cities. In an age where smartphones and Google Maps are basically everyone’s best friend, memorizing state capitals might feel like learning to use a rotary phone. But there's more to it than just "Let’s see how well you can remember random information that will be of limited practical use but makes for great party trivia!" It’s also a way to get kids acquainted with U.S. geography. So, how many of them do you think you could remember right now? Most people might get five states.

But no matter where you grew up as a kid, most of us learned to ride a bicycle and even if we haven't ridden one in a long time, we could still do it if we needed to.

This is the difference between what is known as "didactic" learning and "experiential" learning. But for some autistics, it's ALL experiential which is why I can still remember all of the capitals of all of the states, and the capitals of most countries.

So let me answer some of the more common questions I anticipate from NTs:

"Oh great, yet another series about how different they are. Aren't we done with this yet?" Obviously not, because in our experience, you still don't understand. Almost everything in your life makes sense to you, so you find it difficult to understand why we experience things differently. Then again, there are people out there who base their entire existence on having blithely perused only one book, so go figure.

“How many articles do you need to write about this? It’s not exactly groundbreaking.” Maybe not, but then, it's not about you, is it? Come to think of it, why is no one committed to writing articles/recording videos about the neurotypical experience? After all, what makes you so f***ing special?

“Isn’t it a bit self-indulgent to make everything about your personal experience? We get it. you’re different.” Hmm, self-indulgence is an odd aspect to call someone out on, especially since everything from the food you eat to the paper you wipe your ass with is made primarily for your convenience, not ours. And yes, it is entirely about my personal experience because it's what I choose to share about myself. Feel free to write your own articles/record your own videos about your own experiences; no one is stopping you, unless you simply believe that your experiences just aren't worth sharing.

Finally, one of my favorites: “I’m sure it’s interesting and all, but is it really necessary to put it out there like this? Feels like it’s just for attention.” I can answer that with one word: DUH! I'm running for political office. What part of self-aggrandizement confuses you? I want to get elected just as much as my opponents do, and if it also promotes an understanding about autism and how autistics view their world, well, great - bonus - because it's really all about me. And based on all of the "It's-all-about-me" rhetoric that His Orangeness spews and his followers ingest, I figured that there was trend that I should at least try to capitalize on.

In the end, it’s all about embracing the quirks and finding humor in the journey. After all, life is too short to not laugh at the absurdities—whether it’s a misinterpreted social cue, an unexpected sensory overload, or living life with a recalculating GPS.

Why Did I Do This?

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