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Connect & Grow Magazine: Edition 13 September - October 2024
Do you embrace your neurodivergent traits, or do you try to mask them as much as possible and change to fit in?
Embracing neurodiverse traits is an essential part of self-acceptance and understanding. It's great to celebrate and be proud of who you are, embracing all the unique qualities that make you who you are. It's important to recognise that everyone's experiences and traits are unique to them, and they should be accepted and celebrated.
Have fun and be completely present in the moment
As you know, Autism is a spectrum disorder, which means people have different levels of traits, and those traits impact a person's life in various ways; the same goes for ADHD. For those who have a diagnosis that is different from Autism and ADHD, the traits they have maybe simply who they are, such as those who have Down syndrome; the traits they have are at a different level again.
Whatever a person's diagnosis is, and however much their traits impact their life, is unique to them.
Have you stopped to acknowledge what makes you the person you are?
What are your strengths and passions?
How often do you mask or feel the need to mask, and what toll is masking taking on you?
Answering these questions can help you have more clarity in your life or with those in your life who are neurodivergent.
Let's talk about Masking for a moment.
Everyone does wear a mask to some degree to be polite and fit in. Sometimes, it is essential to hold back from sharing or maybe overtalking; however, when you do that day in and day out, when you keep changing to make people happy or to fit into a workplace, school or event, it will eventually lead to burnout. As some people have shared with me, the more they have masked and not been true to themselves, the more they have lost their interest in what they used to love because they have had to put it aside for everyone else's enjoyment of life.
The more you can be yourself, the more you can do what you love and enjoy, the more fun and happiness you will have, and you will find that perfect! You smile more times than you don't, and you may even notice that you are less triggered.
Masking is a form of protection; however, it stops you from being true to yourself. Our true happiness lies in our ability to be who we are with integrity, honesty, love, and respect. Life would be boring if we were all the same.
I have taken years to understand my neurodivergent traits and how I respond to things and sometimes react. There are days when I can be what others deem as usual. People will say, " You can't be autistic because you can... insert whatever it is!" the problem with those statements is that being autistic or having ADHD or any other neurodivergent diagnosis is not a one-size-fits-all; we are all uniquely different, and we are all able to do certain activities and then have others that we are unable to do.
We all want to be who we are without judgment or the need to change who we are, without the need to mask, which is important; for that to happen, people could step back from their own perceived ideas of neurodiversity and choose to get to know the person, which then empowers the person with neurodivergent traits to be who they are and to shine brightly in who they are.
Be proud of who you are, and be you as much as you can. Allow yourself to be yourself even more and
Written by
Jacqui Grant
Neurodiversity in the Workplace
If you are a business and would like to understand Neurodiversity in the Workplace, we have a book and opportunities to book Jacqui to come to your workplace and speak with your staff.
To learn more, visit our website: Neurodiversity Training and Consultations.
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(C) 2024 Break Free Consultancy
Disclaimer: All information is accurate at the time of publication and subject to change
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