The autism spectrum

[ManipulatorGeneral]

^Well, again, remember that you can have a label attached to you and still be who you are.

However, there is a dark side of being labeled autistic. I feel that I internalized the label as a negative trait when I was younger and thus limited my potential, and that autism became a crutch for me when things went wrong or life was too hard, even an excuse to behave badly and/or give up. The best solution, I find, is to work at progress, publicly discuss struggle and progress, and inspire others still living with autism and even other disabilities; I realized how valuable my testimony was in recent times, and this makes me less of an "autistic person" than a "person with autism," a distinction made in last night's anthropology class that makes all the difference in our self-image. The things that drive us to transcend ASD are important to know and appreciate in order to land on the positive side of the fence; for me, they are my friends, family, faith, instructors, appreciation for the finer things in life, and knowledge that my story does impact people. We should be aware of who we are as autistics, but not letting autism define us, rather to let what we make of it define us.