My Asperger’s / autism and (my need for) self-defense [Mental Health Monday]

Still peeling the onion. Asperger’s/autism discovery as an adult, for me, has been a never-ending–yet unpredictable–cycle of unpacking and reframing.

Unpack, reframe, unpack, reframe.

I unpack each trait as it hits home, leaving its fingerprint on my core, and then I peer through the retro-kaleidoscope that is my lens and apply the theoretical aspect of said trait to my life. Unpacking (for me) is the discovery of traits and tendencies; reframing is the application of them to their manifestation in real life.

It’s a process. 🙂 The important part is to be patient and allow it to germinate and grow and bloom and unfold and spread wings–and give you yours with which to fly.

Invariably, defense is never far away. After all, how else could I deal with the various expectations and accusations and labels lobbed at me over the years, for which I had previously had no self-expressive words?…