When Jackie Schuld’s therapist suggested she might be autistic, she scoffed. She knew there was no way she could be autistic. She was in her mid-30s and ran her own therapy private practice. Everything she learned about autism in her Master’s program in mental health counseling didn’t apply to her. She could make excellent eye contact. She could engage in deep conversations. She could attend social gatherings. She could make it through abrupt changes and remain flexible.

How could she be autistic?

The more she learned about autism — how it internally impacts autistics and how it can present in women — the more she saw herself.

All those times she’d felt too much or thought too much started to make sense. She could see why she’d always felt — off .

As she talked with other autistics, read books, and studied articles, she pieced together a new picture of autism. She processed all of the information through her writing and art. This book is a collection of the essays through which she came to understand autism — and herself.

Her book explores why autism is commonly misunderstood and provides personal stories that illustrate the primary impacts of autism, including:

• Mental characteristics
• Emotional characteristics
• Sensory system characteristics
• Body characteristics
• Passions (special interests)
• Socializing

Although she couldn’t see herself as autistic before, Jackie now knows without a doubt that she is autistic.