“I am crying while I watch this. I feel understood for the first time in my life,” wrote a woman after watching the TEDx talk “Invisible Diversity: A Story of Undiagnosed Autism” by Carrie Beckwith-Fellows. It was as though the speaker, who has autism, had turned on a light in a dark room and people there, many in their 60s and 70s, understood why they had been "bumping into the furniture" all their lives.
Another listener said, “I am 73 and just realized I am autistic after younger relatives were diagnosed. A lifetime of beating myself up for my inability to fit in is over. Praise be to God.
” Most of the 2,620 comments on YouTube to that TEDx talk were similar. “I was 66 before I realized I was autistic. What a relief! A long life of feeling guilt, but now I am just me.
” Another, “Thank you! So tired of being labeled selfish, insensitive, rude, just because I relate and communicate differently. Inattentive, because of sensory processing issues. And lazy, because of meltdowns (when really I worked so damn hard all the time, just to fit in).
Thank you!” MUSC student pursues MD and doctorate while representing autism community People are different. That’s commonplace. We applaud someone’s unique voice, singular capability or distinctive style.
But the differences these autistic people speak of rarely bring distinction. They are often perceived as rude or uncaring or just plain strange. Those differences include not wanting to hug, avoidance of eye contac.