The Impossibilities of Being an Autistic Person

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It is rarely what an autistic person feels like as an autistic person It's totally different. Almost by definition these kind of slightly unacceptable people are at the very least we'd look weird The languages may be not quite as direct as that, but that is definitely what it's implying. And you know what autistic people don't seem weird to other autistic people It's as straightforward as that and it's such an external story That then if you're diagnosed you're told that story and you believe it so it comes with this set of Impossibilities about how you could possibly be You can't be creative. You're never full in love. You'll never be happy. I think the community's been

Author Katherine May recounts the moment she – at age 37 – discovered she is autistic and recognized herself for the first time.

Living as an autistic person in a world that often misunderstands her, Katherine shares:

How the prevailing understandings of autism erase the lived experiences of autistic women and girls;
The way autism looks and feels for adult women; and
How she navigates social interactions and sensory overload.

Katherine also reveals what she hears most often from people who think they might be autistic, which has Glennon asking: “Katherine, am I one of those people?”

For more information about how autism may show up in the lives of adult women, listen to the end of this podcast, and visit Katherine May’s Autism Resource Page at https://katherine-may.co.uk/autism-resource-page.

Don’t miss our We Can Do Hard Things conversation with Hannah Gadsby, who was also diagnosed with autism in adulthood: Episode 82 Hannah Gadsby: How to Communicate Better.

About Katherine:

Katherine May is the New York Times–bestselling author of Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age and Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, which has been translated into twenty-five languages around the world. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times and The Times of London. She lives by the sea in Whitstable, England.

IG: @katherinemay

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