☆THE DREAMER☆ is a totally free newsletter and online space dedicated to exploring creativity, magic, the occult, neurodiversity, and mental health . If you enjoy THE DREAMER or know someone who will, share it with your friends and social networks! Thank you for reading and dream on.
When I was first invited by the good people of TEDx Cecil Street, to speak at their inaugural conference on the subject of neurodiversity, I almost said no.
There were (to quote Gaga) a million reasons to decline the offer. So I intentionally sifted through them one by one, as neutrally as possible, letting them make their little arguments like model UN kids.
After I exhausted all the “hows” and “what ifs” my brain could throw at me, it felt like an easy and uncomplicated yes. I came to that yes the same way I usually do, by asking my fear genuine questions like, “so what?” and “who gives a fuck?”
And I came to it because I realised loved the idea of helping to inspire or affirm even just one young autistic person, the way that a few select femmes were able to inspire me. Growing up, the sole autistic woman that I knew of was Courtney Love (she was diagnosed with aspergers at nine, don’t look so surprised). Everyone else was fictional, cartoonish (when they weren’t an actual cartoon), only there to sprinkle the fairy dust of inspiration on the protagonist, and heavily coded. It’s nice to imagine growing up and relating to living, breathing, out autistic people.
At the time of writing this, I still haven’t shown anyone this video except my partner. Maybe by the time you receive this email, I will have. My point is, I share this with a tender and trust-falling heart. Please be gentle with any feedback you might have. My intention was not to explain the autistic experience (as if there’s only one and as if people can’t Google) but I do share aspects of mine, as a doorway through which to explore conformity, self-expression, and the risks of being denied it.
Enjoy!
xo Jerico