Nessa Wesley’s Reviews > Neurodiversity and the Myth of Normal > Status Update

"It's never ok to engage in abuse, violate someone else's consent, or do any number of similarly awful actions. And you would absolutely be in the right to criticise someone who does those things. Different, and bad, are not the same thing. The key is to save your judgement for actions that are genuinely harmful, not just outside the norm."

Masking is were you suppress or hide an integral part of yourself. When you mask you hide something that doesn't harm anyone, it is just different. Forcing yourself to make eyecontact is masking. It does not harm the other person if you don't look in their eyes, and if they have a problem with that, it is not your fault.

It is true that many people will respond poorly if you take the mask off but many is not all. Try to find your people. Seek out groups where you are more likely to be accepted.

Remember that your struggles are not your fault. Having needs is human and it's ok to be human. You might need different things than the people around you but that's ok too.

People with Aspergers were considered to be high functioning. These people were acknowledged to struggle with social skills but were considered to need much less help in other areas.

For a long time mental health professionals divided autistic people into two categories; those with aspergers and those with autism. People who have received a diagnosis with autism were considered to be low functioning. These people may have lower cognitive abilities, struggle with speaking or more obviously behave differently from other children.

Sometimes a sensation might be far more intense for an autistic person than a neurotypical person.

"I am different, not less" - but people tend to fear the things they don't understand.