Autism, From Someone Who Is On The Spectrum

Autism and Joy (February 2020)

"Autistic joy...Autistic people feel emotions more intensely than neurotypicals do, which affects our experience of happiness. Often, we become so that we cannot physical contain our joy, which is expressed through happy stimming. Non-autistic people do not know what it is like to so happy that you cannot stop yourself from jumping up and down while flapping your arms, squealing with delight. Maybe they feel that happy on very rare occasions, but many autistic people experience that level of joy almost every single day, multiple times a day. Happy stimming feels like warm ripples of energy coursing through your whole body, cause by pure ecstasy. Our joy is extremely powerful. There are a lot people out there who believe that autism is a tragedy, effectively a death sentence, and that without extensive treatment aimed to extinguished autistic traits, autistic children will never be happy. That is false. Autistic people's joy just looks different from the norm. We might not tell what is making us happy, and sometimes we get really excited for an unknown reason. But no matter what our happiness look like, there is no doubt that it exists. In fact, it is usually more potent than neurotypical happiness. Autism does not take away happiness by itself. Abuse, bullying, and mistreatment are take away autistic people's joy. All we need to live happy lives is acceptance and support."-The Autisticats

Normal I do not even think that I experience joy differently than others. But I have always been the person, who is laughing and happy most of the time. But most people are annoyed by it instead of wish that they could view life with as much joy I have about life most of the time. Just like everyone, I have weeks where joy is hard to find. But most of the time, those weeks when I find joy in the little things. Those little things are usually the first thing to either make a day or not. In many ways, I know finding joy the way I do means that not every day is as joyful as another. But I also make it more like that I am able to make a bad day in to better day with find joy in something during the day. 

One of my favorite thing is I am good mood and I am more like to spin in my office chair not fully or the doctor stool at chiropractor or other doctors appointments. To point, most people would wonder why I am spinning in circle because it is happy stim. It is give me the same joy that I get from listen my favorite song at moment. I will even make a comment if someone ask why I am doing that because it is not something I am ashamed in finding joy in ways that most people do not. That has always been one of my happy stims. 

When I would excited as child and still as adult, my voice goes up. It used to drive everyone around me crazy because too many people did not understand I could not control the volume and pitch of my voice. Including getting yelled at by speech teacher and other teachers to be quieter when I was happy.  Now, I do not care if someone has issue with voice going up because I have done everything I could to learn to control it but I know it is side effect of getting excited or joy in my body.  It is not bad thing that I am able show joy in many ways my voice is one of them.

"Choose Joy! Do not wait for things to get easier, simpler, better. Life will always be complicated. Learn to be happy right now. Otherwise, you will run out of time. We can not often choose our circumstances but we can better control our reactions and emotions. Choose Joy."-Unknown

If there was motto for my life despite all the challenges I have dealt with in life. I choose joy on daily basis and so I will be ashamed of find joy more often than not!