Discovering You’re Autistic

A blog for the community
By Fergus Murray

When people first start wondering if they, or a loved one, are Autistic, many of the things they hear and read about what that means will be negative. Autism has traditionally been understood as a disorder, described by a series of deficits. That can be difficult to hear about, and it misses all of the positive aspects of experiencing the world differently, but just as importantly, it’s also just not very helpful! The old-fashioned medical framing of autism gives very little insight into what it takes for an Autistic person to thrive.

With ‘Discovering You’re Autistic’, we wanted to give people who are near the start of that journey a little reassurance, and some pointers to things that we have found useful in understanding what it means to be Autistic. Everyone on the writing team has been through that process, while learning from Autistic friends, family and online communities such as Thriving Autistic. 

We spent a good while talking together about what had helped us, after we realised we were Autistic. A lot of it comes down to learning from other Autistic people – something that might seem obvious once you’ve started, but which most of the professionals assessing people for autism never think to suggest. It was only once I started connecting with Autistic communities that I really started getting to grips with strategies for making my life as an Autistic person easier. It is no surprise to me that the Discovery Evaluation Report about Thriving Autistic’s Discovery Programme found ‘people shared stories of new found confidence, stories of isolation broken and connections formed.’

Autistic people have extremely diverse life experiences, but many of us face many of the same challenges, trying to fit in and thrive in a world that can seem hostile to us. There is great power in realising that you are not alone – that there is a name for what makes you different, and a lot of people turn out to be different in similar ways. No wonder 95% of Discovery Programme participants felt more positive about being Autistic, and 93% reported feeling more connected to other Autistic people.

Besides the power of connection itself, and the possibility of finding a community of people who might understand you, it is also incredibly valuable to learn about the strategies that other people have found to deal with the challenges they share – and to tap into the joy that is part of Autistic experience, too – as the Discovery Programme’s Evaluation Report puts it, a ‘profound sense of being seen and heard for the first time.’ Everyone deserves the chance to see their own perspectives reflected in others.

In this animation, we wanted to recognise the difficulties of being Autistic, but to focus on giving people reasons to be hopeful about connecting with others, understanding themselves better, and feeling like they belong. It’s not easy being different, but the world would be a lot more boring if everybody was the same.