Imagine that you’re running a marathon.
You’re holding quite much the same pace as the other runners. It’s not too hard, it’s even fun.
You’re feeling energized, running together with other people. It’s a little exhausting, but you’re all giving eachother the energy needed to continue on the route.
Running feels natural for you, like your body was made for it.
Everyone’s having fun. Except for one person in the back.
They’re struggling to keep up with the rest.
They have to stop frequently to take breaks, because a whole lot of their energy is drained from trying to keep up with you and the others.
They’re always behind, because they’re unable to get up to your pace without using up a lot of their energy.
They constantly have to take shorter routes and try to figure out how to keep up with you to avoid being left behind.
At the end of the marathon, you arrive at the finish line with the others. Laughing, you all celebrate finishing the whole thing.
Then that person who was in the back arrives at the finish line.
They’re done. Tired. Completely drained of energy. They fall on their knees, holding back tears from the pain they feel in their chest. They tried with all their might to keep up with you, but they tripped and fell. They got left behind.
Having autism is quite much the same.
Every person on the spectrum experiences autism differently, but I believe most of us often struggle to keep up with the neurotypicals.
When your brain is constantly on overdrive, trying to read and learn the social cues neurotypicals have known from birth, It takes a whole lot of energy. But you keep going, because the last thing you, as someone with autism want, is to be left behind.
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