Hello, I’m Kori (he/they). I’m 32, adopted, and autistic. I’m currently working on becoming a therapist. When I’m not studying, I like to make art and spend time in the woods. Studying is my main focus, though, as there is a lot of undiscovered territory both within my self and with our collective understanding of psychology.
I rediscovered that I was autistic over the pandemic after reading Divergent Mind by Jenera Nerenburg, since that time I have reflected quite a lot on it and read a few more autism related books. I am currently reading Strong Female Character by Fern Brady among other non-autism related books. I say “rediscovered” because I was in denial of it for a long time—I think, primarily, because of how I was treated and perceived as an autistic child, which didn’t line up with how I felt on the inside. As I got older, I still felt like how autism was described to me didn’t sound like me, it really wasn’t until I read Divergent Mind and then found more up to date descriptions of autism that things started to finally click.
After recently finding out more about adoption trauma, it’s cleared up the other parts of my childhood that made things difficult. I had a really strong bond established with my birth mom and then I was sent across the state to live with complete strangers, who, after 31 years, still feel like strangers. A lot of a person’s sense of self is tied with their mother when they’re babies, so it makes sense that I had such a hard time being myself as a kid, with or without autism playing a role in my ability to make friends and live a “normal” life. I feel more like a member of the human race when I’m with my birth mom, and less like someone who was created in a lab. It seems like all my anxiety comes from that feeling of separation.
That being said, I’m really grateful to be here and looking forward to meeting others like me.
11 Sep 2023, 11:48 am
