allstoriesarereal:

puddlecomic:

if you’ve been trained to to dislike yourself for enjoying anything due to years of being told you’re annoying clap your hands 👏👏👏

if I listed out every particular instance that was met with negativity enough for me to stop feeling comfortable talking about it, this comic would be like 50 panels.

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Okay so this is so important. Please don’t ignore this post if you think it doesn’t apply to you, because even if it doesn’t, it could be happening to someone you care about. And it may seem like nothing, it feels like it’s nothing for a while but after hearing people say just how boring or dumb something you love is… well, you start to believe it. Before you realise it you find yourself not finishing stories or sentences because there’s a voice in your head saying “shut up, no one cares” and just like that those things you used to love so much lose their spark. They no longer make you as happy as before, everything is tainted and you hate yourself for not fitting in, for not being as interesting as everyone else. Because if everyone says you aren’t then they must be right?
But no! It’s not true and you tell yourself that everytime, but it’s not enough. You have to learn to love the things you used to love again.

In my case, I’ve missed out on so many experiences because of this. I had given up trying to make people see the things I like aren’t a waste of time. But I’m slowly trying to claim them back.

So please, if someone you know ever tells you something about them or about what they like please listen to them. Even if you don’t really enjoy the thing they are telling you about, if they matter to you please listen. That simple action could mean the whole world to them.

This happens to so many people, but especially to autistic people. We are told this, often daily, by those around us, that we are boring, that our interests are boring or inappropriate or ‘too intense’. That we should be other than we are to be interesting to other people, or we’ll never be acceptable or have friends. This is done by family, friends, teachers and medical professionals ‘for our own good’, and is seen by society as benevolent, not abusive.

Guess what.

Our interests are great. They give us joy. They often enable us to have friends all over the world. They make a messed up, scary existence less horrible.

And being acceptable to neurotypical bullies just isn’t the grand prize they seem to think it is. We are wonderful just the way we are.