Autism Isn’t A Label To Be Defined By, It’s An Identity To Be Empowered By

What we really need is the people in our lives to help us see that.

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I was at a big event recently, and I found myself sitting next to a woman I didn’t know very well. The conversation between us and another woman drifted to her daughter who is a couple of years older than me, and how she might be autistic.

Specifically, she talked about how she worries that pursuing a diagnosis will lead her to spiral, because of the stigma attached to having a “label”. At some point in the conversation, I thought it would be helpful to share a bit about my own experience, and how I found a diagnosis helpful.

After I finished sharing, she said to me: “You’re very brave for pursuing an autism diagnosis.”

I have to admit, I was taken aback a bit because no one has ever said this to me before. I didn’t think it was particularly brave, I thought it was just a quest to understand myself better.

These days, I’m reading a lot more about parents’ worrying about openly having this conversation with their children. In the news and in forums, I’ve read many stories about parents of very young children who have chosen to “hide” this from them.