When I Thought of Autism, I Never Thought of Someone Like Me

I'm excited to share this piece that I had published on The Mighty and Yahoo Lifestyles.

When I thought of autism, I always thought of a little boy crying on the floor. Of a nonverbal child. Or maybe one of those heartwarming stories where a mall Santa gets down on the ground for an autistic kid who couldn’t sit in his lap because of a meltdown. I thought of discussions of autism epidemics, possible causes, and hopeful “cures.” Of Sheldon Cooper, or the awkward nerdy guy in the college lounge whom everyone said had Asperger’s. And isn’t that what we think of when we think of autism?

It was traditionally believed that four times more boys than girls are autistic, but researchers are starting to question the legitimacy of those numbers. They’re realizing that autism often looks different in women and girls than it does in boys, and that many mental health professionals have no idea what to look for because almost all research has exclusively focused on the male version.

Read the full piece as published on The Mighty.