Community Stories

I've been looking for a community like this one. NeuroKind has helped me so much! Thank you for all of your insight. :)

I'm so glad I found this community! I've been looking for a nice community full of people who understand each other, and NeuroKind looks like it was made just for me! Thanks for this site and for the community it's building!

I always felt like I was different for some reason over the years, as a kid in school and into my early adult life. It wasn't until my mid-20s that I was officially told I was on the spectrum. I did a lot of research, and found stories from people that were like me, and it finally made things make sense.

I've been reading all kinds of sites lately and found Neurokind, and going through the articles reinforces what I already knew: I am different, and that is okay!

My name is Alexia, and most days, I look like I'm doing just fine.

I get to work on time, smile when people say good morning, answer questions, and do what I need to do. From the outside, I probably seem calm and capable. But what people do not always see is how much energy it takes for me to move through a normal day.

Before I leave the house, I check my bag more than once because forgetting something small can throw off my whole morning. At work, I try to keep up with conversations, but when multiple people are talking at the same time, it feels like my brain is trying to listen to several radio stations at once. I laugh when everyone else laughs, even if I am still trying to figure out what was funny.

By lunch, I am exhausted. Not because anything major happened, but because I have been translating the world all morning.

Sometimes, I eat alone in my car. It is not because I dislike people. It is because silence feels like oxygen. For a little while, I do not have to think about my facial expressions, my tone of voice, my posture, or whether I am saying too much or not enough.

When I get home, I may not have the energy to text people back or explain why I feel overwhelmed. I might put on comfortable clothes, eat something familiar, and sit in the quiet until my body finally feels safe again.

Living with level 1 autism is not always obvious to other people. For me, it can look like being responsible, capable, and “fine” on the outside, while quietly working twice as hard on the inside just to get through an ordinary day.