different is good

have you ever considered that different is good?

as a psychology major, i understand that everyone is different.

as a gen z 20 y.o., i understand the pressure to fit in.

if you have been connected to social media at all in the past few years, it's likely you've come across the contradictory thought of how people should be true to themselves and yet also live up to the expectation that they must be a carbon copy of the "influencers" all over the internet.

but wait.

it gets worse.

there is a population that is growing, and unfortunately, the world and its social expectations are not made with them in mind.

there is no "reading between the lines".

there is no understanding of social cues.

and unfortunately, there is no grace.

the autism community has dealt with the difficulties of social expectations for decades. while the diagnostic criteria and societal understanding of the "disorder" is finally somewhat sound, the social expectations are still heavy burdens.

society's expectations of social interactions are difficult for these individuals to grasp, which pushes them out to the margins.

this causes parents, family, and friends to feel the burden of an autism diagnosis, too, as they feel the pressure to advocate for their loved one on the spectrum even while they mourn the "ideal life" that the autistic individual is missing out on.

but if i can pose this question...

if everyone needs to act the same in order to feel peace within society's standards, are those with a disorder really missing out?

everyone has an inner peace. so often, people on the spectrum feel their inner peace being imposed upon by the quick and constant pace that society refuses to modify. when these individuals feel overloaded, they have an incessant need to calm the storm that brews inside. being able to have that self-awareness and acknowledge the deep need to come to a place of peace is so necessary in the current culture that says we need to keep moving forward until we fall over.

please don't hear me wrong in this: there is a need for advocacy in many of these areas, as the "fight to find a cure" shouts over the voices that just ask for acceptance. there is a need for comfort and consideration in how to pave a way for these individuals in the "normal world".

if the individuals in the neurotypical community didn't feel those expectations to fit in, to be "normal", to embrace their quirks, and to have such a deep level of self-awareness, how much more comfortable would the world be?

i think it's safe to say that every individual wants to feel accepted and appreciated for who they really are. but how is that possible when we let the opinions of others dictate so much of who and what we are?

as i reflect on the perspective shift i've gone through this semester in taking a closer look at the social implications people with autism experience on a daily basis, i can only see how special a neurodiverse world is, and what it could be if neurotypical people allowed themselves to be patient and engage with others in the process of being and becoming different.

you see, something i've been thinking about is how we won't learn if we don't slow down and simply listen. we should be listening to ourselves, to the people around us, to nature and the things that actually matter. being open to all of the different opportunities and people we are around every day can't end up in deficits. they may end in a way that we don't like, but it's not about that.

it's about what we learn in the process.

every person you speak to, every situation you find yourself facing, you are learning something. maybe it's about them, maybe it's about you.

so again, i ask if you've considered different to be a good thing?

are differences burdens to you, or builders for who you want to be?

do you view others' differences out of contempt or conviction?

is being different a place of freedom or a catalyst of the feeling of failure?

allowing and appreciating diversity won't be a deficit.

it can't be if we choose to make the difficulty of differences a learning opportunity.