Autistic, I by Claire Sexton

                    Jeff Ruane CC



Autistic, I
​
I practice saying autistic, the 
spectrum, I,
I am not one of us, one of them,
I am other, a stateless, a diversity
quotient.
It rolls around my tongue like tutting.
She says that it’s common for girls
to be forgotten – 
The host of the mis or undiagnosed.
I was born one way and cannot
change – 
There is a cluster of symptoms that
cannot be denied – 
‘The depressive hole you’ve been in is
typical of women like you’.
‘I can say with pretty much certainty
that you are ASD.’
The last of these is cutting. Delivered 
uncensored, too strong.
I would have liked a bit more dressing
and salad with my onion soup.

​

Claire Sexton is a poet and writer who focuses on issues of mental health. She suffers with depression and anxiety and was recently diagnosed with autism at the age of 51. She has been published in magazines such as Ink, Sweat and Tears, Amethyst Review, Foxglove Journal, and Reach Magazine.

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