An adult autistic perspective on growing up on the Autism Spectrum.

I like to compare autism to a box, well, a bunch of boxes stacked inside of one another. 

Where someone is on the outside opening up one box after another, peeling away at the layers so to speak.

And an autistic person is on the inside in the very last box, from the outside person’s point of view or the first box from their point of view.

Where one from the outside would open the boxes up and outward and the person on the inside would open down and inward.

That is how best I can describe my learning to communicate. It started from the inside, backwards for me. While others were opening up the outer layers and trying to reach the inner part, I was in the inner part trying to figure a way to the outer part.

Only when I got to the middle where I finally met the people trying to get in, I still had to right the flaps on the boxes I opened wrong side in to the outside and examine the flaps from the boxes already opened for me. Often times turning them inside before accepting they were right to begin with.

I hope that this makes some sort of sense to someone. If not…

Try getting inside of a box and have the lid closed, and without getting out, pull the flaps down towards you. Pretty difficult, huh?

This is how I was, internalizing everything. Taking it all in at once and then having to learn how to push the flaps, metaphor for information and stimulation, out so that I could finally focus on simple things one at a time.

Then when reaching a common ground of sorts, taking all of the things I had already memorized or learned and figuring out how to use it.

I still struggle with trying to use metaphors and examples to explain myself. However, plain to the point English isn’t always so entertaining.

Please bear with me as I continue my journey!

Jessie

Now available in audio:

thinking-inside-and-autside-of-the-box.mp3

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