Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg is a wife, mother, writer, editor, artist, photographer, and leader of the Vermont Chapter of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). She blogs at Journeys with Autism, and her latest book, The Uncharted Path: My Journey with Late-Diagnosed Autism, was published in July of 2010.
I do not suffer from autism.
I suffer when someone calls my way of being a disorder.
I suffer when others invest time and money to prevent people like me from being born.
I suffer when anyone suggests that I might recover or be cured.
I suffer when others feel sorry for me or for the family I have created.
I suffer when I fear that people will consider me broken.
I suffer when my being autistic scares people away.
I suffer when others try to silence me.
I suffer when people suggest that I do not have all the same feelings they do.
I suffer because I must describe my way of being by referring to a medical diagnosis.
I suffer because I live in a society that does not celebrate difference.
I suffer because I live in a culture that does not cultivate sensitivity.
I suffer because I live in an environment that values appearance over substance.
I suffer because I live within a social order that calculates human worth based on productivity and conformity.
I suffer because I live in a world that does not honor the gifts that autism brings me.
I suffer because I have learned to apologize for who I am.
But make no mistake: I do not suffer from autism. I do not suffer from who I am.
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