It's just a few days after my 31st birthday, so okay, I'll bite. It's been about 3 years since my diagnosis and official 'welcome' into the world of the Autism Spectrum. It's been...bittersweet. I've learned a lot about myself since the diagnosis, but thanks to my lack of access to services that might help, I'm still stuck in the same rut I always was.
I guess the only difference between now and let's say, 10 years ago before I started college, is that I've got 2 degrees and I've been in a relationship for nearly 8 years. Still no job prospects despite my best efforts, and still no faith that anything will come my way at all.
But that's what most of us have ever had to deal with: Lack of real opportunities. You know, the kind that might actually give us a shot at the now non-existent American Dream. Instead, most of us end up in jobs we absolutely hate. Fast food work. Bagging groceries. Busing tables.
Granted, those are respectable lines of work and the folks who bust their asses in those jobs deserve more respect than their asshole managers or CEOs, or in many cases, customers will ever give them. But that doesn't change the fact that those jobs make folks like us miserable to the point of near rage. Oh, and did I mention we don't stand a chance in hell of ever obtaining advancement opportunities in those same rage-tastic positions?
So here's an idea: Instead of paying lip service to us with a 'day of awareness', why not give us the chance to show folks around the world what we can actually do for a change. Someone had to say it.
See you around,
Homer