Contentment with Neurodiversity - a poignant poem

I wrote this poem a few weeks ago after I had a traumatic experience with a professional I am seeing. It was not intended to be traumatic, it is just how it happened and how sensitive/fragile I am. It stemmed from a clashing of views about pathologising and neurodiversity.

Contentment with Neurodiversity.

I'm actually quite happy

living my life

in a way which suits me

I don't need a box

to fit me in, to hold me

I've often been told

to change who I am

to fit in

to stop being me

to be another

who ticks off the right boxes

I'm actually quite happy

being imperfect me

I don't need a set of boxes

to tick off

to hold me captive

to mould me into another creature

I know who I am

I am quite aware

of my limits and differences

that set me apart

I like it that way

it is who I am

who I've come to accept and love

I've tried being normal 

whatever that means

it made my brain hurt

I wanted to die

I had no hope

then I found out

there's a reason I'm me

a reason I do things

the way that I do

relief and hope fills me

I am not alone

in being this way

there are many others

I connect and learn

all that I can

form many friendships

learn from others

lead others

encourage others

I'm neurodiverse

I like it that way

I don't need fixing

I am not broken

I am who I am

I like who I am

finally, at long last.

-Ayla

Further reading:

Throwing away the Master's tools: Liberating ourselves from the pathology paradigm by Nick Walker.