I’ve been okay with being different for most of my life, but I also didn’t know why I was different. I think if I knew I might not have been so easy-breezy about it because of internalized abelism.

I can accept that my way of relating to the world doesn’t fit well in certain settings. I’m not happy in those setting either. That’s why, for example, I will never work at a design firm. But alternatively, I have strengths that make me excellent at field work.

What does hurt is when people assume bad intentions from me, or certain communications problems. Like how asking questions when given instructions is seen as defiance.