Extra section related to:
✧
Life experiences, individual personality,
and choices and changes throughout life:
(A myriad of little and big things play complex roles in
an individual’s experiences and influence their life)
‘Autism’ is just one thing among many others.
1
- Specific configuration of neurological differences (cognition, communication, sensory perception, movement, interaction)
- The fact that the variation of abilities and inabilities is inconsistent
2
- In which areas you choose to fuel your energy, maybe at the expense of other areas
- How you (choose to) perform in each context
3
- How others think of, view, judge and treat you; how they react to, respond to and what they believe about your actions
- Social dynamics; discrepancy between reality and others’ misperceptions
4
- How you change in response of others: your approach, response and reaction to situations
- If and how you choose to show/hide your skills, your (internal) struggles, and your needs – which may differ from other people
- How easy/hard it is for you to get/lose support; which types of support you get/need
5
- Whether or not you know and/or disclose you are autistic; when you knew it (if you know it), and your life history before this; how you conceive the label of ‘autistic’
- Whether or not you have, choose to have, or seek a diagnosis
6
- Demographic characteristics, identities, experiences:
- gender (gender roles, trans/non binary, etc.), race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, parenthood, cultural surroundings, socioeconomic status, physical disability, etc.
- Stigma, discrimination, prejudice, underdiagnosis, expectations, portrayal, etc.
- How different characteristics combine with being autistic
Autism: Explorations 