Abstract/Statement
Artist Statement (Creative Nonfiction):
I was self-diagnosed autistic before I went in for my so-called professional assessment. The months leading up to my assessment brought a good deal of stress. Would I be believed? Seen? How could I be? How, when I had spent a lifetime feeling misunderstood? "To the Person Who Will Assess Me for Autism" is exactly what it sounds like: a letter to my assessing psychologist. It was written in real-time, processing my self-diagnosis, yearning for proof, and working toward the belief that my identity as an autist would not be diminished by someone else's disbelief. I was formally diagnosed in October of 2021, but the writing of this letter was more empowering and validating of my autistic identity than my diagnosis itself.
Creative Commons License
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Recommended Citation
blue, torri
(2025)
"To the Person Who Will Assess Me for Autism: On Self-Diagnosis and the Longing to be Seen,"
Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture: Vol. 6:
Iss.
2, Article 10.
DOI: 10.9707/2833-1508.1184
Available at:
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/ought/vol6/iss2/10