Hey guys,

Today I wanted to talk about something a little different than usual: autism. This month is national autism awareness month, but that's not the only reason I wanted to talk about it.

You see, as a young child, I was diagnosed with something called Aspergers Syndrome. Nowadays, that would fall under the larger umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

And there is a reason I don't tell people, and I am grateful that I am lucky enough to mask and perform well enough that I don't need to tell people - that I can get by with being a little different, and some days even wonder whether I truly do have it. Because as a child, simply having the diagnosis made my life so much worse than the disorder ever did.

For years, through primary and a large part of secondary school, 'Autistic' was this label slapped onto me. Like a tag people used to either garner sympathy for themselves, or push me aside as strange and not worth their time.

From the moment I got that diagnosis, my life was marked by a decade of being different: of being ostracised and talking to psychologists and mandatory therapists that couldn't ever fix who I was, or that my mother used me as an excuse to glorify her own struggle, of bullying and ignoring and refusing to give me chance.

While all I really needed, was just a bit of understanding. For others to give me the time and space to figure it out.

Even now, the first thing that comes up when you google 'can people with Aspergers', the word that follows is 'love' - and I think I have proven more than enough that yes, we definitely can.

But the truth of the matter is that I am a lucky one: that when I ran out of that environment to university, I could rip that label off, like tearing an itchy, infuriating tag from the back of my mind. I don't stim. As much as I hate to say it, I am one of the intelligent ones. I can mask, and although it costs me more energy and leaves me tired, I can do it well enough that I can get by without others realising. Sometimes I can even be charismatic.

A lot of others can't. But that doesn't mean they can't do anything. That they deserve to be left out and ignored. People with autism have to spend every day of their lives trying to understand and figure out other people, the least others can do is try to understand them back just for once.

And that doesn't mean you have to become an expert in autism, but a little bit of knowledge and setting aside that uncomfortable gut feeling goes a long way. People with autism don't deserve to be treated as deranged, or worthless, or even just someone you should avoid. We're not empathyless; we're not serial killers or future terrorists; we're not magic geniuses for one very specific thing that society deemed wacky or valuable enough to keep us around.

At the end of the day, we're just people that have it a bit more difficult than usual - and sadly, for some of us a lot more than usual.

That is why I decided that for this month, I will use the saved up donation fund to make a €50 donation to 'NEXT for AUTISM', and their upcoming fundraiser event that will feature a ton of popular actors, youtubers and talkshow hosts, such as Jacksepticeye, Jimmy Kimmel, and Zach Galifianakis. Check out the video in the description for an even better perspective on autism, and more information on the event.