Last updated on November 26, 2023
Recently, a Facebook follower asked what interests me. What are my passions? Some are surprised to learn that my interests and passions don’t include autism. I love music and art, but I’m great at neither music nor art. I am good with technology and love all things computer-related. So, naturally, I love using computers to experiment with music and art.
Topics I consider interesting, in something of preference:
- Economics
- Rhetoric of Economics
- Economics of Media
- History of Economics
- Technology
- Publishing and Design
- Media Production
- Writing for Stage and Screen
- Philosophy
- Music
- Painting…
You get the idea. Autism isn’t on the list, and I could add more topics without reaching “autism” as a topic of interest. It probably isn’t in my top twenty topics about which to read or discuss. I love reading and learning about almost everything. Yes, I have researched autism and I am interested in how autism might relate to my passions. But, I’m not consumed by autism.
In past posts, I’ve explained that I want to be known as a writer and a teacher. And I don’t want to write or teach about autism specifically, neither as a creative writer nor as a non-fiction researcher and theorists.
Why Blog about Autism?
I have explained why this blog exists several times, too. It started as a school project in 2007 and I simply kept it going because people said they learned from it. It helped them, somehow, even though I’m not writing what many autistics write or share on social media.
Other autistics embrace their “autistic” label more enthusiastically. They sometimes argue that autism is merely a social construct, not a disability.
I’m disabled and often wish I had normal social skills and self-control. I’d love to have a better executive function and fewer triggers.
The Autistic Me exists because other people read it and follow it via social media. I’m not sure why, but I feel obligated to answer questions and explain my perspective for those interested.
This doesn’t make sense to me, either, but when someone asks a question, I feel compelled to answer. When someone emails a question, I try to respond. One reason I limit social media interactions is that I struggle to stop engaging when someone keeps asking questions or making claims I consider inaccurate. It’s best not to even start down those paths.
It seems good to me that this blog helps anyone. I’m not sure how it helps, though, since it seems unlike what other autistic self-advocates write.
Two autistic traits are honesty and a need for order. An unfinished answer bothers me. An incomplete explanation feels wrong.
As long as there are a lot of readers and followers, this blog will limp along. The podcast will return, too, when the time is right.
I know that if autism topped my lists of interests, I wouldn’t be able to push the blog and podcast aside. By comparison, I continue to study and write about technology and economics. That’s how I recognize my passions: I cannot set them aside, even during a pandemic.