Why Au-some Women?
Au-some Women was the name I decided that best describes how I feel autistic women are: awe(au)some, amazing and talented women, who often are unfortunately misdiagnosed, or misunderstood, or diagnosed later in life (such as myself, age 45).
The idea behind “Au-some Women” is to provide a service for autistic women in the community to come together; to connect, learn from each other, share their stories, and ultimately to feel a sense of belonging (and not just about ‘fitting in’).
Once many of us receive our diagnosis of autism, we are left to wonder… to try to understand… to make sense of what this means to us.
Going through multiple stages of wonder, grief, curiosity, fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, hurt…. until we hope to feel a sense of peace with what it means to be an autistic woman. For some women, this journey may take days, months, or just be an ongoing, evolving journey of self-awareness and discovery.
Every autistic woman’s journey is different, and yet, you are not alone.
By creating this website and blog, I hope to create some relief, and understanding through sharing articles and stories of autistic women and their journey of self-actualisation (including my own story).
I hope to contribute to changing the narrative surrounding what it means to be an autistic woman. That we have most often gone through year (and decades) of masking. Camouflaging to ‘fit in’ to the neurotypical world. On the outside, we appear confident and successful, but years of masking have more often than not, contributed to unwanted health conditions, including anxiety or depression, eating disorders, and more.
We have suffered. Masking takes its toll.
We shutdown. We burnout.
We change jobs. We lose jobs.
Relationships can be difficult.
We wonder ‘why’? Why am I struggling in life?
What autistic women need and want, are understanding for how we are… and acceptance for who we are.
Early diagnosis, for the next generation of autistic woman who are currently the girls and adolescents of today. So they can receive the support they need. So they can accept that autism is a part of their identity. Learn to love and learn to live as an autistic girl or autistic teenager.
Become empowered. Self-confident.
Nat x