Apr-30-2020
It’s my birthday.
It is the last day of another trip around the Sun. It is the last day of National Poetry Month and it is the last day of Autism Acceptance Month. I would like to say a few words about all this.
I AM GRATEFUL to G-d for all the blessings in my life, for my family, my security, my dear friends, my mentors, my opportunities…
I am grateful to all the people who have had an amazingly wonderful impact on this most recent circuit of mine through the solar system, for the relationships I have developed, for the sweetness and talents I have enjoyed…
I am grateful for ice cream and chocolate and crackers…
I am grateful for the song of wrens outside my window, the sound of the stream beside my house, the brightness of blossoming flowers and the rustling of wind in the trees...
I AM A POET. I see every aspect of life, every experience, and every art form as poetry. To call myself a poet is not a sign of hubris. It is a sign of vulnerability that I am willing to share with others the way I see myself and who I am at my core.
I AM AUTISTIC. I am grateful for the diagnosis I so unexpectedly received just two and a half years ago, one that validated me and so many of my experiences. I am grateful for the lessons this has opened to me and the deep communication it has allowed. I am grateful that I received this diagnosis at the YOUNG AGE of 19!—females with autism are usually overlooked for diagnosis and are underrepresented in clinical and popular knowledge, often either being diagnosed very late in life or never at all. I am grateful that I received my diagnosis in a healthy atmosphere! It was not a curse; it was an insight.
Recently I have been using these two tags in many of my posts: #AlsoIAmAutistic #NormalizeAutism. I am not putting them on “autism posts”. I am putting them on ORDINARY, general posts. I am a poet, I am a woman, I am a student of science … I am so many other other things … and, also, I am autistic. “Autism” is often seen as making someone totally “other”, as putting someone in a box that is conceptually so narrow and stifling and sad. Yes, I have differences from the typical allistic (non-autistic) person. But those differences do not eliminate our commonalities. Being autistic is an important part of my identity, but it is not all of it. I am also not identical to every autistic person in the universe! As with any large population, we autistics vary drastically! We have various interests and gifts and preferences and, yes, difficulties. I am not a paper cut-out. I AM A PERSON..
I want to see the day when it is not so rare an occurrence that the instance of me mentioning that I am autistic is met with understanding, acceptance and friendship rather than shock or incredulity. This is where normalizing autism comes in (This does NOT mean viewing everyone as autistic. It is NOT TRUE that “everyone is a little bit autistic”.). Normalizing autism means portraying autistic lives not as consisting of separate “autistic” moments and “human” moments, but as consisting completely and entirely of HUMAN moments. We are all human, in all the complexity and miraculousness that this entails.
Thank you.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for being.
May G-d be near to you and sustain you and show you the depth of love that He has for you in all your being.
Silvie Ḥannah Lundgren
Sparrow, Little Well and woodland creature
****
P.S. Please do NOT support Autism Speaks. They are an anti-autistic hate organization who spread fear and misinformation about autistic people, are money-grubbing, encourage the use of trauma-causing therapy techniques, and do little to benefit the actual lives of autistics.
It’s my birthday.
It is the last day of another trip around the Sun. It is the last day of National Poetry Month and it is the last day of Autism Acceptance Month. I would like to say a few words about all this.
I AM GRATEFUL to G-d for all the blessings in my life, for my family, my security, my dear friends, my mentors, my opportunities…
I am grateful to all the people who have had an amazingly wonderful impact on this most recent circuit of mine through the solar system, for the relationships I have developed, for the sweetness and talents I have enjoyed…
I am grateful for ice cream and chocolate and crackers…
I am grateful for the song of wrens outside my window, the sound of the stream beside my house, the brightness of blossoming flowers and the rustling of wind in the trees...
I AM A POET. I see every aspect of life, every experience, and every art form as poetry. To call myself a poet is not a sign of hubris. It is a sign of vulnerability that I am willing to share with others the way I see myself and who I am at my core.
I AM AUTISTIC. I am grateful for the diagnosis I so unexpectedly received just two and a half years ago, one that validated me and so many of my experiences. I am grateful for the lessons this has opened to me and the deep communication it has allowed. I am grateful that I received this diagnosis at the YOUNG AGE of 19!—females with autism are usually overlooked for diagnosis and are underrepresented in clinical and popular knowledge, often either being diagnosed very late in life or never at all. I am grateful that I received my diagnosis in a healthy atmosphere! It was not a curse; it was an insight.
Recently I have been using these two tags in many of my posts: #AlsoIAmAutistic #NormalizeAutism. I am not putting them on “autism posts”. I am putting them on ORDINARY, general posts. I am a poet, I am a woman, I am a student of science … I am so many other other things … and, also, I am autistic. “Autism” is often seen as making someone totally “other”, as putting someone in a box that is conceptually so narrow and stifling and sad. Yes, I have differences from the typical allistic (non-autistic) person. But those differences do not eliminate our commonalities. Being autistic is an important part of my identity, but it is not all of it. I am also not identical to every autistic person in the universe! As with any large population, we autistics vary drastically! We have various interests and gifts and preferences and, yes, difficulties. I am not a paper cut-out. I AM A PERSON..
I want to see the day when it is not so rare an occurrence that the instance of me mentioning that I am autistic is met with understanding, acceptance and friendship rather than shock or incredulity. This is where normalizing autism comes in (This does NOT mean viewing everyone as autistic. It is NOT TRUE that “everyone is a little bit autistic”.). Normalizing autism means portraying autistic lives not as consisting of separate “autistic” moments and “human” moments, but as consisting completely and entirely of HUMAN moments. We are all human, in all the complexity and miraculousness that this entails.
Thank you.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for being.
May G-d be near to you and sustain you and show you the depth of love that He has for you in all your being.
Silvie Ḥannah Lundgren
Sparrow, Little Well and woodland creature
****
P.S. Please do NOT support Autism Speaks. They are an anti-autistic hate organization who spread fear and misinformation about autistic people, are money-grubbing, encourage the use of trauma-causing therapy techniques, and do little to benefit the actual lives of autistics.
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