Well Said!

  By Helen Said, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Autistic Advocate Advocacy has been part of my story for a very long time. It started with Dad's multicultural involvements and the influence he had on my young life, and grew when I attended university and joined the socialist movement. By the time I was diagnosed Autistic, I was 55 years old and I had already been involved in a string of community movements and campaigns, as well as my daughter's early intervention. For me, it was natural to delve into Autism advocacy, where there was clearly a need for more strong and diverse voices. I was born at a very stressful time for my family. They were then refugees from Egypt's 1956 Suez Canal War, living in London.  Dad was a Greek-Maltese British Subject and, as such, his extended family's assets had been frozen during the hostilities between Britain and Egypt. Eventually hostilities thawed and the two counties started negotiating. As Dad was the only man on his

Today I applied for a volunteer position that interests me - no pay involved, just a chance to use my analytical abilities and make a difference to people's lives. What's more, I wrote a new resume, hardly something I expected to need in the year before I reach pension age, but something I was asked to do when I applied for the position. For the first time in my life, I felt free to write a resume that was the truthful story of my life: * No masking of my Autism or political ideals * No repackaging of my traits or experiences  into something an employer is looking for * No dumbing down my interests or intellect to make me look non-threatening to a future boss Of course, most people tweak their resume to fit the position they apply for, but Autistic job seekers are forced to present a completely manufactured version of ourselves, not just in resumes and interviews, but all day every day at work, once we get the job. In a workplace, I am like a dolphin in a bath-tub. I am expecte