As you may have read in the title this is the story of how I became autistic. For all people wondering: 'Isn't autism something you are born with?' I have to answer: yes it is. I have always had autism and I was born with it. But my story is about accepting that I am autistic, therefore the title is 'How I became autistic: A journey of self acceptance'. For me at first I didn't like to be called autistic or autist because I always believed autism was something I had and not something I was, it was a burden I had to carry with me. I was raised to believe that autism is a defect and something to be ashamed of. In this book I will share the struggles that come with accepting being autistic and other mental health issues that come with it. This is not a feel good story, but the brute reality of the darkest period in my life. TriggerWarning: depression, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, eating disorder

Curious about autism? This resource for writers talks about what autism is and how to write an autistic character. Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability that affects around 1 in 59 people. Every autistic person is different. Most autistic people typically experience some or all of the common autistic traits, which include developmental delays, difficulty mind-reading, sensory issues, need for routine, stimming, and difficulty understanding and coping with emotions. This resource is intended to be autistic-friendly. This is a space for good-faith learning and positivity. It is OK to have questions and to not know things. People commenting in bad faith will be blocked, and possibly reported. (Please do not try to debate mean people.)

I am a 19 year old girl with autism. As autistic person there are a lot of things non-autistic people can tell you. Some are out of curiosity while others might be intended to offend you. In this book I will discuss 11 things that people with autism are tired of hearing from non-autistic poeple. In each chapter I will give a repsonse to these things by adding some experiences of my own life. Please share your own experiences, whether you are autistic or not, in the comments. I am always curious to read what other people think.

Cover image description: A taupe "awareness" ribbon with googly eyes glued on it. The taupe symbolizes the toned-down sensory and emotional experiences of people who suffer from allism, and the eyes represent the obsessive need for eye contact in allistic individuals. Please note: This is entirely sarcastic. I literally just copy/pasted parts from the Autism Speaks website and changed the wording up a bit so it would be about allism. Do you know what allism is? It's a mild to severe lack of autism that affects 67 out of 68 individuals. Symptoms are lack of stimming, lack of deep thought, under sensitivity to sound and other sensory input, and obsession with small talk. Find out more about this terrible epidemic, and how we can tame the monster that is allism.

Some relatable memes about being an Autistic person.