I am so endlessly tired of people using these words to give me “compliments” for....existing. I don’t think that being autistic makes me brave or inspiring in any way whatsoever. People often tell me this in the context of me talking about being autistic and doing a doctorate or being in academia. Guess what? Being autistic is actually hard as fuck. I never want to be cured, but trying to make sense of a world that wasn’t built for brains like mine actually isn’t easy and is sometimes even a hugely annoying pain in the ass. Being disabled in academia is a daily fight for recognition and accommodations, and telling me that me being autistic and living my life or chasing my dreams is brave or inspiring is actually not a compliment whatsoever. This disability pride month, I ask that you think twice before telling a disabled person that they’re brave or inspiring for existing. Many of us are exhausted from surviving and are not looking to be your inspiration for anything. A note: this isn’t to say that disabled people aren’t brave and don’t do inspiring things - lots of us are and do! I am just saying that our mere existence doesn’t render us brave or inspiring :) Also, people say this shit to me about being LGBTQ all the time too and it is equally inappropriate, so please don’t do that either. #disabilitypridemonth #disability #disabilitypride #actuallyautistic #academic