I attended and facilitated three different online groups supporting autistic people, families and women with autism; during this period, I learned a lot. During this time, I can say that I learned much more from the groups than I did from my personal training, the books I read, and the therapy and counselling I received. So, for this fantastic experience, I have to thank Credu and all my friends whom I met in our support groups. First of all, it was such a unique experience for me to see how similar our quirks were, which we sometimes don’t even fully admit to ourselves. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel alone on this planet. Even though we are all very different, at the core, we are very similar. Furthermore, every solution that we talked about came from our own experiences, so they were all life-changing. Yes, autism has a spectrum, but we certainly have a lot in common; it doesn’t matter where you are within the spectrum. So it was an exciting experience for all of u
As an adult with autism who has achieved inner peace, it meant that I had to strip away all the social conditioning that made me believe I was weird. I do still accept, however, that I am different. It means redefining my identity. It demands a little bit of effort, bravery, and discomfort, but above all, it necessitates the courage to allow myself to be who I am. Permitting ourselves to be ourselves may be the greatest challenge for autistic people... The confusion I experience when the big difference between thinking I understand myself and understanding myself hits me in the face... Of course, it was not easy to face the fact that I thought I understood myself most of the time when I looked back, but this confrontation taught me to know myself. I am no longer afraid of being myself or realising my weaknesses and hearing the judgements of others because the fact is, I am who I am. Reflecting on my experiences has allowed me to realise how much I struggled with feelings of inadequa