Is there an endgame with autism, or is learning to live with it the whole point?
By Eli Mercer on
For a long time, I thought there would be a moment where things finally “clicked.” Where I’d understand people better, feel less drained, and stop feeling out of sync with the world. I assumed acceptance was just a step toward becoming more functional, more settled, more normal.
Now I’m not so sure.
Accepting that I’m autistic sometimes feels like giving up hope, like admitting there’s no version of me that will ever move through life easily. And that’s hard, especially when you see others hitting milestones and talking about where they “should” be.
But fighting who I am hasn’t worked either. Measuring success by how well I mask or how much I can tolerate just leads to burnout.
So I’m stuck wondering: maybe acceptance isn’t quitting maybe it’s redefining success. Maybe the point isn’t reaching an end, but learning how to live in a way that actually fits my brain.