Dear seventeen-year-old me,

Now that you’re aware of your autism, let me give you some advice. Your first thought will be to wrap up your autism and lock it up in the closet. I will advise you to keep your autism hidden from your peers for the time being because they will pretend to be your friend to make themselves look good. However, you mustn’t hide your autism in the back of your mind and pretend it doesn’t exist. You might find this hard to believe, but your autism is actually your strength. The more you accept it, the stronger it’ll make you.

Your autism is why you’re so creative. You’re not afraid to think outside the box and come up with ideas that most people would consider “crazy”. These ideas will extend to plays like the ones you love to perform in and stories like the ones you love to read. Nobody else can say that they came up with these ideas but you. While some people might tell you that nobody will be interested in your writings, they’re not the right audience for your creations. Don’t worry, the right audience will come along and appreciate what you have to say. They’ll want to travel to the worlds that you create. They’ll want to connect with the characters that you give life to. You’ll change lives and perspectives with your words because you have a brain with a higher capacity than the avenge writer. Your brain was meant to expand to areas that no one would dare to touch. None of this would be possible without your autism.

Although being different will certainly make you a depressed outcast, this experience will soon make you stronger. You know what it’s like to be silenced and shut away from the world. You know what it’s like to have a story that no one wants to hear because it’s different. When you’re an adult, you’ll become an advocate for the autistic community. Autistic people will look up to you and non-autistic parents will ask for advice. It is your destiny to fight for a better world so that future generations of autistic kids won’t grow up miserable and socially shut away as you did. The world wouldn’t be better off without you as you’d like to believe; lives would be ruined if you were to disappear right now. Please know that your autism isn’t going to lead to your downfall; it’s going to lead to your greatest success.

Until you reach my timeline, please do all the research that you can so that you can develop a better understanding of yourself. Make some friends on the spectrum and listen to them. Oh, and in case you’re worried, your autism won’t prevent you from finding love. In fact, you can thank your autism for that. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Give it about seven to eight years and you’ll see. Keep being weird and never throw away your ideas!

Proud to be autistic,

What makes me strong?
What makes me strong is:
All the things I been through.
I never gave up and never plan to.

I’ll always keep going no matter what abrupt’.
Through the good, the bad and the ugly rough.

I overcame. I forgave.
I changed my bad ways.

I changed the way that I think,
Got pregnant, graduated college, and had a baby. Seemed like all-in-one day, do not blink.

They thought that I was crazy, they thought that I would not make it.
What “they” did not know was, I did it for my baby.
He makes me stronger on a daily.

What made me strong was being alone.
Having nobody but myself to rely on; therefore, I had no choice but to be strong.

I was born in a war zone, born a warrior.
Army strong, strong like a warrior.

I didn’t grow up with my mom or my dad.
I grew up in a different state, in foster care; Where I felt alone and like nobody cared.

I was destined to fail, but instead I chose to prevail, I got tired of feeling like I was living in hell.

I stopped feeling bad for myself, I began to prepare. I chose I want better for myself.

I put my all in myself. I had to rebuild myself, which made me strong as hell.
Now I do not doubt myself.

What makes me strong are the lessons that I have learned.
All the times I failed but no matter what, kept going.

All the Heartbreaks, and headaches,
The tears that I sheared; taught me to love myself.

When nobody believed in me but me, that has made me strong. I believe.

When I was barely hanging on and felt like giving up; I persevered and motivated myself.

I am army strong in a war zone. I made it out alive, only the strong survives.

When I had to heal my own broken heart, that I obviously didn’t break from the start.
Made me stronger but was hard, ultimately it taught me how to work hard.
Army strong; Live and Learn; heart.

The pain I didn’t Inflict on myself, I had to let got; it wasn’t good for my health.
I forgave people who didn’t repent, or even ask for help.
Army strong, search for happiness along with strength.

What makes me strong, is life goes on. All I ever had was myself and felt alone.
They talked trash and laughed at me. Said I would never amount to anything; zero, nothing.
One day I woke up and declared no more tears, from this day forward, you deserve to be happy queen; go forward.
I let go of the past hurt that I kept buried deep within myself; I even forgave myself.

The lessons I learned, the people I met.
The best thing is yet.

The best things in life are free. Love, Peace, and Happiness.

Birthing a newborn, becoming a mom; I love my son. That is why I am so strong.
I got to be strong. Army strong.

Life goes on, Live and Learn.
Army strong always keep going.
I chose you.
I love you.
Always.

Army Strong. Only the strong survives.
When you have no choice but to be strong; being required.