me
Hey, brain… what are you reading now?
brain
A book that says neurodiversity is not a superpower. I'm not Iron Man. I'm not ‘that kid from TikTok who knows the periodic table by heart’. I'm... me. And sometimes I'm tired of pretending that all of this is some kind of gift. 😞
me
But everyone says ADHD is turbo creativity, and autism is logic and genius. They say: ‘you have a superpower, use it!’. And… honestly, sometimes I'd like to believe that too.
brain
Me too. But then an ordinary Monday arrives. And I can't find my phone, I lose the thread in the middle of a sentence, the sound of the neighbor's vacuum cleaner literally hurts, and someone at work laughs that ‘I was supposed to keep an eye on the deadline’.
me
And then you don't feel like a comic-book hero anymore.
brain
Just like someone who put on a cape not because they're a superhero… but because they can't show how they really feel. Because the world doesn't understand that every ‘superpower’ has its price. And sometimes it's simply... a different wiring.
me
And yet you're here. You function. You try. You keep me afloat despite a million stimuli and comments like ‘we're all a little on the spectrum’.
brain
I try. But today... I took a longer route to work because people honk at that intersection and I just can't handle it. And I know that's strange. But for me it's a survival strategy.
me
You know what? You're not a superpower. You're persistence, tenderness, and a structure made of spoons that run out faster than they do for others.
brain
Thank you. 🙋♀️ Can we lie down now? I've used up all my spoons.
Note for the reader:
‘Spoons’ is a metaphor for energy. Every decision, every sound, every ‘you just need to try harder’ uses up one spoon.
When they run out, nothing more can be done. And no, ‘pulling yourself together’ will not help. Understanding will.