Today I didn’t come here to write about technology, I scheduled myself weekly to publish something here but I didn’t want to start talking about some deployment tool for example.

Today I want to talk a little about people like me, people with autism.

NOTE: This text is about my experience

We exist!

I want to share with you a few things about us.

Autism is a psychological problem. Lie!

We are diagnosed as a child, or not, there are varying degrees of autism and the only way to find out is by observation.

One thing at a time.

Yes, please, we know that some people can do several things at the same time, talk about different topics in a round of beer. But this is not the case for me and neither is the case for many people (whether they are autistic or not). I always had a lot of difficulties doing several tasks at the same time, or several tasks in the same sprint and when I couldn’t deliver I was extremely frustrated doubting my own ability.

We don’t live in our own world.

We are able to communicate and we are not always extremely closed people (I am not, for example), sometimes yes, we have several sociability problems but we can live normally. We have a lot of empathy! Perhaps our means of connection are through another door that you are used to entering and leaving.

Demonstrations of affection.

Today I am a married person, but not showing affection does not mean that we do not feel. I, for example, always had a low tolerance for frustration, I still have some difficulties with communication even with my husband (even more now living in another country). In other words, we are sensitive people, but perhaps you are not used to how we express ourselves. There is no reason to get away from people, but don’t forget that we are sensitive, social relationships generate a lot of anxiety and we don’t even want someone to be touching or shouting.

We are not geniuses!

What I’ve seen and heard from people saying that people with autism are extremely intelligent, math geniuses for example. It turns out that we have different abilities, for example, I remember practically everything they tell me or what I read, I decorate numbers on plaques, but I have enormous difficulties with writing and judging verbs. We can have mastery of ** ONE ** specific skill! For example, since I was a child I love drawing and playing and listening to music, but if you didn’t know that, you would associate autism with the fact that I went to college in physics. But do not forget that there are several types of interconnection and each person wakes up in one.

Associated things.

They are anxiety disorders, separation anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), motor tics, depressive episodes and self-injurious behaviors, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders, intellectual disability, language deficit, sensory changes.

THIS DOESN’T PREVENT US FROM ANYTHING OK? THE TREATMENTS ARE WIDE AND EVERY PERSON AND EACH DEGREE RESPONDS IN A WAY.

And what is the connection of this with our technology area.

Of so many, we talk about diversity and inclusion, who is this for? It’s for everyone? I am a black woman, I have hearing loss because of a genetic disease and I am autistic. Although I can include myself in other clippings, I am still part of the one I write too.

Have you ever thought that the environments in which you work are not inclusive for autistic people?

We can and we live in a society like anyone else, let us all be facilitators so that autists can also join and stay in a technology career.

Thanks for listening.