The month of April is Autism Awareness Month. According to Ambitious about Autism, one in every 42 men is born autistic, while for women it’s one in every 182.

On average, men are more likely to be on the spectrum. Women on the spectrum are treated with more kindness in my experience. Society looks down on men who look like they are suffering and can’t hold themselves together. I’ve felt this throughout my life.

Living with autism, I have been looked down upon and bullied heavily because I acted, thought and responded differently than others. They looked at me as sub-human. When I tell people I’m on the spectrum, they sometimes say “you don’t look autistic?” But autism is a spectrum, so everyone is going to look and act differently in their own unique way. People on the higher end are more high functioning while people who are on the lower end of the spectrum have difficulty functioning.

I am on the high end of the spectrum formerly called Aspergers, which means it’s really hard to tell on the outside I have it. Once you get to know me, you’ll see that I am autistic. People on some parts of the spectrum cannot function on their own and require a personal assistant.

People who have been diagnosed with autism have certain traits that are easily recognizable. Some traits of autism are the inability to understand sarcasm or jokes. Some or all of their senses are increased heavily, which is why loud noises hurt their ears and many feel overwhelmed a lot. Autistic people’s emotions can be more intense than the average person. Certain textures are very unpleasant and feel awful, so that’s why we wear certain kinds of clothes.

When you meet or see an autistic person you should not treat them differently from others and you should try your very hardest to raise awareness by volunteering and giving us a chance to explain our problems to you.