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Many neurodivergent people get described as lacking social skills or being "too" blunt.  According to who?  These descriptions share an inherent bias toward a particular style of communication that actually feels really awkward to me.  I feel worse when people don't speak directly about what is happening.  I want to be asked how I feel after a miscarriage or in the midst of a divorce.  Why should I not?  I don't understand how a smirk or giggle relates to something like my sexuality.  I have spent decades trying to translate myself into this confusing social dialect that is supposedly the human default. I want to try communicating in my own dialect now and see if this works better. Hand me the mic and I’ll give it a shot.

Neurodivergent adults often find ourselves at the intersection of our embodied difference and other people's discomfort. I notice awkwardness or silence around vital issues like relationships, sexuality, trauma, and death.  Why must we act ashamed of being humans?  Do we have to keep this up?

My direct communication style and unique social filter act as assets in conversations that some people call “tough” and I just call interesting or human.  No matter how intense a discussion may feel to the group, I promise I can make us all laugh and get a little closer to mutual understanding.