The generation of Autistics that were failed have the power to change the future for Autistics...

Firstly, 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭. I am privileged with the calibre of people in my life.

I received this from a beautiful friend today and with her permission, I share it with you.. because this is what it is all about. When I started having discussions with Rob about joining forces, the deal was that we were raw, real and transparent about our own journeys. That's the gig. That's literally what we signed up for.

I've known I have been neurodivergent pretty much since my son was diagnosed. I hyper-focused on my research until my son's therapists weren't telling me anything that I didn't already know - we do that. It's a "thing" with neurodivergent peeps. We become experts on the things we are passionate about; it's like we inhale the knowledge until it's just part of us.

It's the incorrect stigma that kept me quiet though - content in creating a new world for my son, until I realised what was really going to help my son own and love who he authentically was, was me doing the same.

One of the reasons Neurodivergence gets overlooked is a fundamental misunderstanding about what it actually is. Until fairly recently, most people believed Autism was rare, that only young white boys had it, and that it was always easy to see. Think of Dustin Hoffman's portrayal in the film Rain Main. This is how we were all trained to view Autism - a horrible condition that renders you freakish and helpless, your life only as valuable as your savant-like skills are to people.

By the mid-1990s some people had a vague awareness of what was called then Aspergers Disorder. Aspergers was stereotyped as a "higher functioning" flavour of Autism found in really smart, nerdy, usually rude men who worked in fields like tech.

Despite what people believe, Autism is not defined by rudeness, masculinity or having any kind of mathematical skill. To explain what Autism is, you would be using words and sentences such as:

✨ Heightened responses to sensory matters and heightened sensory relationship with the world.

✨ Driven by purpose and craving purpose.

✨ Bodies and brains with unlimited capacity, once correctly motivated and accommodated.

✨ Very different understanding and processing of thoughts and feelings.

✨ An increased ability to compartmentalise situations and people.

✨ Increased focus, to such an extent that changing focus or attention can be excruciating at times.

✨ When dysregulated, will often experience a heightened sensory event across their whole body.

Our Business pillars of Self-Awareness, Self-Honesty, Self-Confidence and Self-Love were the pillars I originally created for myself to live this fortunate life, and I have indeed lived a fortunate, successful life. It's time to change the narrative, and we all play our part in that.

Sending big love

- T ♡