Absolutely fascinating, Priscilla! Thank you for much for your willingness to be candid. I am not sure I’m autistic, but I have such similar patterns as far as living in and enjoying isolation & my difficulty dealing with noise and certain people, particularly if they’re loud or boisterous.
You’ve made me aware of being more gentle and less judgmental about people around me. Who knows what they’re going through? Who am I to “judge” even if just in my own mind?
I love all that Temple has done to make the public aware of the different levels, or temperaments of autistic people and it seems you’re doing similar work. So valuable and again, you are so very appreciated!
Thanks so much for your thoughts, Julie! That's really the thing, isn't it—to be gentle with ourselves and others. We're so different, yet each of us is a treasure! Each of us brings gifts.
The questions and the answers in this piece are so rich and illuminating. My heart echoed a little bit in a few places—the part about understanding your mother's pain more clearly, then about discovering that editing was a great fit for you. I could go on and on.
You also point to the immense talents in the autistic mind, and the ability to step into the lived experiences of others. This is a gifting I am just now really leaning into, after a few years of resisting the label "autistic" because I was FULLY convinced "no one would hire an autistic editor!" Now, I think, if I'm not being too audacious here, that an autistic editor is the best kind you can find.
I also am seeing that autistic minds are an incredible asset to many professions, what with our ability to deep dive intensely and thoroughly devote ourselves to one specific knowledge set at a time. (This is also why I'm opening an invitation to neurodiverse people to write about their special interests in "The Spectrum Spotlight.") I find so much joy when I'm able to swim in my special interest knowledge and I want others to have a place where their special interests are welcomed and celebrated. 🫶
"Now, I think, if I'm not being too audacious here, that an autistic editor is the best kind you can find." I'm inclined to agree, Amanda! Attention to detail, deep need for things to be accurate, ability to dive into another's experience with empathy—sounds like a dream editor! :-) Over the years I found a great deal of joy in working with a writer one-on-one and bringing out their deepest concerns and truest voice. And my start in the biz was decades of copyediting for a major publisher, which gave me 10,000 hours of practice in taking often-awkward phrases and bringing out the best thought behind them. When it finally was my time to write, I already had decades of experience in making language into music.
This is great, Priscilla, thank you. I finally figured it out at 70! This resonated very strongly with me: "...by instinct I resist hierarchy and authority. I’ve heard this is common among autistic people—a deep sense of fairness and justice, and an impatience with authority, especially arbitrary authority." Self-employed since 40, and never looked back.
Hi, John, it's great you were able to make a business! I started mine at 29 and loved being my own boss, though I dearly missed the camaraderie that my friends enjoyed in their office lives. Thanks for dropping by.
Absolutely fascinating, Priscilla! Thank you for much for your willingness to be candid. I am not sure I’m autistic, but I have such similar patterns as far as living in and enjoying isolation & my difficulty dealing with noise and certain people, particularly if they’re loud or boisterous.
You’ve made me aware of being more gentle and less judgmental about people around me. Who knows what they’re going through? Who am I to “judge” even if just in my own mind?
I love all that Temple has done to make the public aware of the different levels, or temperaments of autistic people and it seems you’re doing similar work. So valuable and again, you are so very appreciated!
Thanks so much for your thoughts, Julie! That's really the thing, isn't it—to be gentle with ourselves and others. We're so different, yet each of us is a treasure! Each of us brings gifts.
The questions and the answers in this piece are so rich and illuminating. My heart echoed a little bit in a few places—the part about understanding your mother's pain more clearly, then about discovering that editing was a great fit for you. I could go on and on.
You also point to the immense talents in the autistic mind, and the ability to step into the lived experiences of others. This is a gifting I am just now really leaning into, after a few years of resisting the label "autistic" because I was FULLY convinced "no one would hire an autistic editor!" Now, I think, if I'm not being too audacious here, that an autistic editor is the best kind you can find.
I also am seeing that autistic minds are an incredible asset to many professions, what with our ability to deep dive intensely and thoroughly devote ourselves to one specific knowledge set at a time. (This is also why I'm opening an invitation to neurodiverse people to write about their special interests in "The Spectrum Spotlight.") I find so much joy when I'm able to swim in my special interest knowledge and I want others to have a place where their special interests are welcomed and celebrated. 🫶
"Now, I think, if I'm not being too audacious here, that an autistic editor is the best kind you can find." I'm inclined to agree, Amanda! Attention to detail, deep need for things to be accurate, ability to dive into another's experience with empathy—sounds like a dream editor! :-) Over the years I found a great deal of joy in working with a writer one-on-one and bringing out their deepest concerns and truest voice. And my start in the biz was decades of copyediting for a major publisher, which gave me 10,000 hours of practice in taking often-awkward phrases and bringing out the best thought behind them. When it finally was my time to write, I already had decades of experience in making language into music.
This is great, Priscilla, thank you. I finally figured it out at 70! This resonated very strongly with me: "...by instinct I resist hierarchy and authority. I’ve heard this is common among autistic people—a deep sense of fairness and justice, and an impatience with authority, especially arbitrary authority." Self-employed since 40, and never looked back.
Hi, John, it's great you were able to make a business! I started mine at 29 and loved being my own boss, though I dearly missed the camaraderie that my friends enjoyed in their office lives. Thanks for dropping by.