I don’t want to contribute to the stereotype that if you’re autistic you must be some sort of secret genius in a very specific area that could save humanity if only people could see past your outward presentation as socially awkward or naive. Yes, that is the case for some of us — minus the bit about saving humanity. SOME of us have off the charts aptitudes. Even the well intentioned “what’s your super power?” question proffered by those trying to show a certain level of acceptance when they find out that someone is neuro-divergent is reductive dismissive and helps perpetuate this stereotype.

All of that said, I feel like many of us can relate to man of the scenarios that Dr. K presents with regard to being the “smart kid”. The parts about Emotional Intelligence and using your raw smarts to navigate social situations (much of autistic masking is this) really hit home.

It reminded me of M constantly invalidating my lived experiences (gaslighting me) when I’d say something like “I don’t have access to the full range of emotional expressions you’d expect from a typical person”. Her response was always “yes you do, I’ve seen it”. The utter fucking arrogance!!! I’d try to explain to her that I’ve had years of masking and putting in effort to measure the right appearance without having the feelings to match because my brain works differently. The last time that came up she yelled that I don’t get to win arguments by saying that my brain is different. What an ableist piece of shit.