Communication, in the best of circumstances, isn’t easy. It takes effort, purpose, and not a small amount of creativity, especially if whatever you’re trying to explain isn’t an experience many people share. It takes just as much to tease apart a reality that is a given to most, but for you is just a hinted-at, unclear set of expectations. Being an autism translator is a full-time job. Largely, that’s because without even being aware of it, we are all operating based on assumptions. Everyone. Constantly. How you interpret my phrasing. How I read your body language. No person is a tabula rasa—a
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