Hear Me

Don’t hear what I didn’t say.

First heard that from an autism advocate.

Resonates, because so often my “no” means a paragraph.

Apparently.

Because despite the conventional wisdom that those of us on the spectrum can’t read people, the opposite is painfully true.

We’ve spent our whole lives hoping for some kind of decoder ring that explains neurotypicals, some universal translator that would turn the words we said into the ones we meant.

The ones that didn’t hurt your feelings.

Words that meant we got picked last, if we got picked at all.

I said no, and meant it.

But only that.

Just no.

Hear that.