To my Dear Neurosiblings (and to myself, as well),
It is courageous to respect your needs.
It requires immense strength to be able to admit that you need more support. Making accommodations for yourself or requesting them from others is a difficult task, at best. It can feel insurmountable at worst. It can feel like failure to slow down or change plans (even temporarily), but it is not. It is success!
It is the opposite of weakness to recognize that you’re struggling and to take supportive action so that you can better succeed in your chosen endeavor.
You are you. You are worthy as yourself. You are lovable and you are capable.
To manage our lives and reach our goals we all must also replenish. To accomplish this we must accept ourselves and recognize our struggles. We must work with our abilities, not against them. We can’t change who we are, but we can work with our strengths and weaknesses to support ourselves through tough situations.
Changing plans to accommodate your needs and support your true self is a strength, not a weakness. Realizing that something needs to change and that you can’t continue on as you have been can be such a difficult thing, but that realization itself is a victory! A victory over the narrative we’ve been told our entire lives about the importance of “independence” and of “doing it all” even when it completely breaks us.
Some people don’t like it when we take the time we need, but your life is yours, not theirs. Many people don’t understand how someone who seems to be so very almost like them could be Autistic, yet we are.
Their opinions aren’t the ones that matter. They lack the understanding to have relevant opinions about the issue.
Keep being the amazing, kind-hearted, honest person you are and please take care of yourself. Be kind to yourself, not just to others. Do what you need to do in order to support yourself along your desired path.
Then you will have already succeeded, no matter the outcome ❤
You take care of so many other things and people (especially if you are a parent or caretaker of any sort), but it’s so easy to forget yourself. To forget that you are also important and that your needs matter.
But your needs DO matter.
You are Autistic – let yourself be Autistic. Live Autistically and authentically every chance you get! Surround yourself with people who at least try to understand and accept you for your entire wonderful self.
Mask less, Autistic more. Not even allistics could handle full-time masking (or even most of the time masking) and it’s not realistic to expect yourself to manage that either. Burnout can so easily be the result of overtaxing your masking abilities.
You’ve been strong. You’ve had to hide often without even knowing you were hiding or why.
But now you know why and you can be yourself when it’s safe to do so.
Be safe, be you, be Autistic!
~Aria Sky
Mamautistic 
Reblogged this on Laina's Collection – sharing Aspergian/autistic writing and commented:
This is so wonderful 💗💗. So much encouragement, support, and wisdom here! Beautifully and compassionately written 💝💝
LikeLike
Thank you so much for the reblog! I’m glad you enjoyed it ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally did! Thank you so much for writing it 😁❤️👍🏼
LikeLike
Reblogged this on yarn and pencil and commented:
Reblogged with love for my Neuro-diverse followers 🙂 xxx (and for myself too)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for the reblog! ❤
LikeLike
Hi — I can’t see the original post here, just the comments. Anyone know what I need to do?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s very odd. Thank you for commenting and letting me know!
It’s showing up fine for me (even in a browser where I’m not signed in) so I’m not sure what’s happening or how to fix whatever’s happening.
So I’ll just C&P it here and hope that works 🙂
Post begins here:
To my Dear Neurosiblings (and to myself, as well),
It is courageous to respect your needs.
It requires immense strength to be able to admit that you need more support. Making accommodations for yourself or requesting them from others is a difficult task, at best. It can feel insurmountable at worst. It can feel like failure to slow down or change plans (even temporarily), but it is not. It is success!
It is the opposite of weakness to recognize that you’re struggling and to take supportive action so that you can better succeed in your chosen endeavor.
You are you. You are worthy as yourself. You are lovable and you are capable.
To manage our lives and reach our goals we all must also replenish. To accomplish this we must accept ourselves and recognize our struggles. We must work with our abilities, not against them. We can’t change who we are, but we can work with our strengths and weaknesses to support ourselves through tough situations.
Changing plans to accommodate your needs and support your true self is a strength, not a weakness. Realizing that something needs to change and that you can’t continue on as you have been can be such a difficult thing, but that realization itself is a victory! A victory over the narrative we’ve been told our entire lives about the importance of “independence” and of “doing it all” even when it completely breaks us.
Some people don’t like it when we take the time we need, but your life is yours, not theirs. Many people don’t understand how someone who seems to be so very almost like them could be Autistic, yet we are.
Their opinions aren’t the ones that matter. They lack the understanding to have relevant opinions about the issue.
Keep being the amazing, kind-hearted, honest person you are and please take care of yourself. Be kind to yourself, not just to others. Do what you need to do in order to support yourself along your desired path.
Then you will have already succeeded, no matter the outcome ❤
You take care of so many other things and people (especially if you are a parent or caretaker of any sort), but it’s so easy to forget yourself. To forget that you are also important and that your needs matter.
But your needs DO matter.
You are Autistic – let yourself be Autistic. Live Autistically and authentically every chance you get! Surround yourself with people who at least try to understand and accept you for your entire wonderful self.
Mask less, Autistic more. Not even allistics could handle full-time masking (or even most of the time masking) and it’s not realistic to expect yourself to manage that either. Burnout can so easily be the result of overtaxing your masking abilities.
You’ve been strong. You’ve had to hide often without even knowing you were hiding or why.
But now you know why and you can be yourself when it’s safe to do so.
Be safe, be you, be Autistic!
~Aria Sky
LikeLike
It seems to be a Chrome issue. Thanks for reposting. I love it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re very welcome, and thank you! ❤
LikeLike