Disc-Functioning Dan

A lot of autistic adults grew up feeling different without having the words to explain why. People saw the outside behaviors, but not the exhaustion underneath them. We were called shy when we were overwhelmed. Difficult when routines changed. Dramatic when emotions felt too big to hold inside. Awkward when social rules never came naturally. Many of us spent childhood trying harder and harder just to feel accepted while secretly wondering existing seemed easier for everyone else.
Then years later, the diagnosis finally comes, and suddenly your entire life starts making sense. Not because you became autistic overnight, but because you finally found the languggles you carried silently for years. The truth is autistic people people were always here. We just learned how to hide ourselves to survive.

I also remember when I had no metal components.

I feel like every few months a new body part steps forward like, “Hi. You haven’t heard from me before but I’m gonna be a problem”

Most autistics have at least one comorbid condition, and many of these conditions make autism more complex and create additional challenges.
These comorbid conditions include: ADHD, intellectual disability, language impairment, PICA, ARFID, GI issues, anxiety, situational mutism, depression, bipolar, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, dyslexia, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, apraxia, dyspraxia, FASD, OCD, ODD, PDA, sleep disorders, PANS/PANDAS, EDS, Down syndrome, and genetic disorders.

Wesley has ASD, ADHD, intellectual disability, language impairment, epilepsy, PICA, ARFID, GI issues, and a sleep disorder.
I have ASD, ADHD, anxiety, depression, situational mutism, CPTSD, GI issues, and insomnia.
We’re both autistic, but our individual needs and comorbid conditions are very different.

-Wesley’s Mama
(An autistic autism mom)

🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

I think sometimes we put far too much pressure on ourselves to make everything perfect.

Perfect days out.
Perfect family photos.
Perfect plans.

But half the memories we laugh about most are from the days where something went completely wrong.

The kids don't need perfection.

They just need us.

What's one family memory that still makes you laugh?