The Importance of Rest for Autistic People

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One of the features of autism is this really enhanced sensory perception Everything feels turned up to like 11 and for me the thing that troubles me the most often is touch. I literally feel like people are buzzing me um, but also there's a secondary part of that which is that I can sense stuff that other people aren't sensing. There's this invisible Feeling of current going on Um, and that's positive too. It's what makes my writing possible Like that ability to tune in and to feel Maybe things that seem too quiet to other people I think is where my creativity comes from.

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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