Different Is Not Broken: Autism, Awareness, and the Lie of Normal
- Kirsten Bonanza
- 1 hour ago
- 1 min read
There is a quiet violence in the phrase “something is wrong with you.”Most autistic people hear it long before they understand language.
It shows up as correction. As redirection. As reward for compliance. It shows up when curiosity is labeled distraction and intensity is labeled pathology.
Autism is not a disorder of intelligence. It is not a lack of empathy. It is not a failure to adapt.
Autism is a difference in how awareness moves through the body and brain.
Many autistic people perceive more—more sensory input, more pattern, more emotional and energetic information—than the nervous system was ever taught how to filter. The problem is not that this awareness exists. The problem is that the world insists it be muted.
From a very young age, autistic people are taught:
Make eye contact
Sit still
Use the right tone
Answer the question the way we expect
This isn’t education. It’s training.
And training teaches one thing above all else: your natural way of being is unsafe.
Different is not broken. Broken is what happens when difference is punished long enough.
There is no promise here to change autism. There is no agenda to normalize behavior. There is only a question worth asking:
What if nothing about you needs to be corrected?
Would you like more?
Join me for an online workshop on this topic and gain tools on how to navigate the world with your unbroken self. additional in person classes can be scheduled, please reach out to learn more.
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