A Total Keeper

Before I found out I was Autistic, 

I never felt like I belonged. 

Always felt a bit different, 

But different doesn’t mean wrong. 

I feel differently, I think differently 

My ways are unlike most folx 

Quite literally, I’m not wired like you, 

It’s not all an elaborate hoax 

Often it's just all too much 

The sounds, the thoughts, the textures, the sights 

I'll pull back, until it's okay again 

Or I'll stay awake, overthinking all night 

I don't understand work politics 

I don't care for hierarchy 

I'll admire your real qualities 

Even if you think I’m quirky 

And if sometimes I can't stop talking 

About jazz music or football 

Know that it's cuz I love you 

And not cuz I'm a know-it-all 

Sometimes you'll expect me to just 'get' it 

But it’ll go right over my head 

Break it down for me and let it sink in

Don’t let things remain unsaid 

Well, if you ask me, 

I think I'm quite cool 

I've got a thousand special interests 

None of which I learnt at school 

Cuz the world's hard to understand 

It's all implied meanings and subtext 

No one's direct, everything's unplanned 

Everything’s done on some other pretext. 

Like once this guy, he said in whispers 

Don’t bring him along, he’s uncool 

I wouldn’t get it, he thought. So I said to him,

Buddy, I’m autistic… I’m not a fool. 

I can sing, I can dance, I can paint, I can write 

I can dress up and look smoldering hot 

And no matter what all the films may show you 

I'm not really like a prudish robot 

You’ve got to look deeper 

Cuz I'm funny in my own ways 

And I won’t ‘just get over it’ 

Cuz autism isn't just a phase. 

Very soon you'll find a way 

If you go on and look deeper 

To come up to me and say, 

Dude, I think you’re a total keeper. 

And now that I know I’m autistic, 

I’m celebrating the fact that I’m neurodiverse 

Accommodate me, let me self advocate 

Cuz being autistic is not a curse