Autistic Hedgehog

I’ve heard of a fair few autistics that have that problem. For me, when I do have it, it seems to be more related to my ADHD. But it’s not unusual, and it certainly doesn’t make you stupid. 

That is one of the unfortunate things about the way society pathologizes us. If having a brain that doesn’t always function properly makes a person “stupid” than the entire population of this planet is “stupid,” because no one’s brain is perfect. My husband has a terrible time with his memory, for example. And human brains act in a lot of ways to deceive us, distorting our perception especially under the influence of strong emotions.

Something that happened to me the first year I lived in Sweden: We live on the fourth floor and our windows have no screens, so we’re open to everything if we want to open them in the summer. I could hear something flapping around in the kitchen, and I got up to go investigate. As soon as I was out in the hall, a swift came pelting out of the kitchen towards me. In my state of high adrenaline, not only did it look much larger than it actually was, but for a moment I thought it was a bat. Now, it was broad daylight so of course it wasn’t a bat, but the thought went through my head.

Not because I’m stupid or anything like that, but because I was full of adrenaline and fear, and that affected my perception of what was happening. That is the nature of the brain.

Whatever causes you to have this problem, you’re not alone. Not only are you not unusual as an autistic person, but you’re not unusual as a person, and you’re not stupid.