I still need to remind myself.

That I’m Autistic.

The thing about being autistic is that it is lifelong.

I probably had it before being diagnosed at 13.

It’s still around when you graduate high school.

It’s still there when you become of legal age.

It is still there in the year that I became “middle-aged.”

Yet, because of how hard I work to overcome my struggles, it can be hard to admit that some things just stick around of being autistic.

They are not problems, rather they are nuisances.

Things like autism-related anxiety, rumination/looping, and echolalia and scripting.

They are still there.

They are the moments that I can get frustrated.

They get better over time, but they still exist are a part of what being autistic is.

Coming from the dark ages of autism, the invisibility forced me to mask in.

Not to let people accept me for who I am.

But it is getting better.

Because I remind myself that I am autistic and will always be.