I thank my autism for many things… for making me appreciative of language, to never waste it, for making me great at my own company and being alone, for showing me the world in a dust bunny and rainbows in a drop of water, for making me literal so I struggle to lie and cannot fathom bullshit or why anyone would tell it, for making me a shit magnet so I can better appreciate what a real friend actually is, for giving me faceblindness so I had to feel who people were, for giving me simultagnosia so I had to learn through doing, for giving me meaning deafness so I knew how hard I wanted to understand, for giving me a body that didn’t play by the rules so I could learn to babysit it, look after it and become a good parent to it, for giving me emotions I had to learn to manage and so came to earn the pride in doing so, in giving me an attention deficit so I came to live 100 years in my 49 just in case it ended up being a short life after all, for giving me enough heavy duty shit that the only solution was to learn to laugh at the challenges, and at myself and so developed resilience and humor.

The ability to see the personhood beyond disability and still not dismiss the disability and to understand that disability is woven into the fabric of personhood and every negative brings something positive with it, to know this is a great art.

Donna Williams, BA Hons, Dip Ed.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.
http://www.donnawilliams.net

I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of this country throughout Australia, and their connection to land and community.