On October 11th, 2016, I set out on a journey to address my mental health. I had no one to turn to. Not even my parents. I had no idea what I was up against. I had no idea why I felt some of the feelings I felt or thought the way I thought. I really and truly was alone in the world. All I had to go on was an antiquated attention deficit disorder diagnosis from 1990. I was eight. The world was a lot to take in. A lot of life did not make sense.
Deep down, there was more to who I was than ADHD as it is now known. I knew that and had to find answers. I chose the day of my late grandfather’s birthday because, at the time, I fondly looked up to him. I still do. But I never used to know him. None of my relatives lived closer than three hours away. I got to see none of them more than a few times a year. Hence, being truly alone. I knew my journey was going to be perilous…
… but I never could have imagined, not in my wildest dreams or my freakish nightmares, just how deep the rabbit hole would go. Now that I am emerging from its cavernous, ponderous depths, I feel that I can now sense the curvature of the earth. My gaze has been widened. My heart has been shredded. Up to 2025, the tone of my writing has grown increasingly urgent. I am not inherently a pessimistic person.
I am a realist. My mother was an optimist. My dad was the pessimist. I ended up being somewhere in between. Although the discovery of layer after layer of trauma has darkened my soul, I don’t want that to frighten anyone who comes here to read my writing. We all have pains in life. I ended up discovering most of mine in under two years. I am autistic. I found out based on a counselor’s hunch in August 2019. A hunch. I know, right?
At first, I was unsure what to make of being autistic. But as I observed the autism community, primarily on Twitter, slowly I began to learn. I found my people. I found people who thought like me, behaved like me, and people who suffered as much as me. For the first time in my life, I truly did not feel so alone. I was not a defect. I belonged. While not everyone belonging to or supportive of the autism community has been welcoming…
… I would not be here without them. Still alive. In the last more than two years of this writing journey you now find yourself gazing upon, you need not be brave or intimidated. You do not have to be autistic to gain immeasurable wisdom from what I’ve discovered. Just be you. Open your mind. Open your heart. See what it means to be autistic and know that this is not all of who we are. My story is a story that resonates across continents and demographics.
We are a people. We are everywhere.
I owe what my life, my heart, and my soul have become thanks to those who welcomed me into their lives and their hearts in spite of how much we have collectively suffered. My people. Take what you will from this place. There is much wisdom to be shared. Let not your journey end here, for your mind will truly be opened once you peruse the wisdom I have to share. I thank you all from all my heart, and I bid you a safe journey of your own. Jim R. Irion BA His CJ-M Mental Health Advocate Autistic Writer, Speaker
"Build a statue for someone else. I just want to save lives.” Jim Irion
“A chance can change the world. I'll take that chance.” Jim Irion
"I learned more about my mental health in the last two years than in my entire life." Jim Irion
“I am more than my autism, but I am me because of it.” Jim Irion
“Autism is not a label. It's a way of life.” Jim Irion “Our thinking is what makes us human. Thinking differently is what it means to be autistic.” Jim Irion
NEW terms officially coined: (StimPunks Foundation, 2024+)
Autistic Chronophobia Theory https://stimpunks.org/glossary/autistic-chronophobia-theory/ Stim-Listening https://stimpunks.org/glossary/stim-listening/ Stim-Watching https://stimpunks.org/glossary/stim-watching/
Additional quoted credit:
PREVIOUS publication on youth and adult bullying: (The National Empowerment Center, August 2019)
