Reclaiming Voice, Trust, and Connection as an Autistic Survivor
When the world has taught you to wear a mask just to be safe…
When trust has been shattered by those who claimed to care…
When the very way your brain works has been pathologized, punished, and exploited…
Healing doesn’t come from fitting in.
Healing begins in radical authenticity.
Embracing My Neurology as a Strength
For so long, especially when I came to understand my diagnosis, I saw my autism through the lens of rejection – something I had to “work around” or conceal to be worthy of love, opportunity, or peace. But the truth is, my neurology is not the problem—the problem is a world that demands I betray my true self to gain conditional acceptance.
I’ve come to realize that:
- My deep perception is not “overthinking”—it’s discernment.
- My sensitivity is not a weakness—it’s attunement.
- My need for clarity and justice is not rigidness—it’s integrity.
Autism isn’t just part of who I am—it guides how I navigate truth, energy, and connection. The more I embrace it, the more powerfully I reclaim my life. It’s okay to be who I am even without labels or diagnoses.
Rewriting the Internal Narratives Planted by Abusers
Gaslighting isn’t just a tactic—it’s a slow erosion of your inner compass. After years of being told I was “too much,” “too sensitive,” “misinterpreting,” or “imagining things,” my thoughts became battlegrounds. Even in safe spaces, I questioned myself.
But healing is rewriting those scripts. And it begins by listening to the voice within—yes, the one they tried to silence.
- When I hear, “You’re too sensitive,” I now say, “I’m deeply intuitive and responsive.”
- When I think, “No one will believe me,” I remind myself, “My truth matters, whether they accept it or not.”
- When I feel the urge to shrink, I choose to take up space—on the page, in conversation, in my own mind.
Healing requires truth-telling – not just to others, but to myself. And that truth is: I have always been worthy. Their inability to honor my truth says everything about them, and nothing about my value.
Community, Creativity, and Advocacy as Healing Tools
Abuse isolates. But healing connects.
Community is no longer about quantity—it’s about alignment. Even if I have just one or two people who see me clearly, those connections are medicine. And when I can’t find community in others, I build it through creative expression.
Writing is my revolution.
Each blog post is a reclamation.
Each sentence a salve.
Even when I journal, my truth is told. My secrets are expressed. I see my thoughts, my progression, my growth, my change, and I know that I’m healing.
Creativity allows me to make meaning out of madness. Art, music, poetry, voice—it all becomes a bridge between the inner world I’ve long defended and the outer world I now dare to invite in.
And through advocacy, I take what once silenced me and transform it into fuel. I speak for those still gasping for air beneath the mask. I name things so others don’t have to carry the burden of confusion and self-blame. My story becomes a lantern for those walking their own dark paths.
Final Reflections
Healing in authenticity doesn’t mean I’m never hurt again. It means I no longer abandon myself to earn love or safety. I stay rooted in who I am—even when the winds of misunderstanding blow hard.
This journey isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about returning to who I’ve always been—before the world told me I had to be someone else to be loved.
I’m not broken.
I’m not too much.
I’m me.
And that’s more than enough.
My Voice Unchained 