30 Days of Autism Acceptance: 25
April 25th: Do you experience executive dysfunction? If so, how often? What is it like for you? What do you wish neurotypicals understood about it?
Oh god, it’s been the defining characteristic of my life so far, this constant battle between things that I have to get done and all of the other things my brain would rather do. My inability to get things done led to a series of depressions through my adult years; it made it hard to go to school or keep a job. It was incredibly debilitating to feel like I was constantly failing.
Once I started working on accommodating this disability, I started improving, though. I developed a whole system of calendars and lists to track things and remind me of them. I managed to go back to school, and I managed to get a good job that I’m happy with, two things that I really gave up on at an earlier point in my life.
I wish that other people understood that it’s a disability, not a moral failing. It’s not something to beat yourself up over, but rather something that can be accommodated. You might never get to normal, but you can get to functional.