Autism Acceptance

I wanted to have a page on my website for autism acceptance because my entire experience of the world is shaped by autism. It's not inherently good or bad, its simply how I live and how my brain functions. Before I knew I was on the spectrum, I understood myself in an analogy about computers. Everyone's brain is a computer, some run on windows or MacOS, but I am a linux guy. (I use windows on my computers, but I have considered switching to linux in the future.) For me, my emotions, sensory input, and interests are all heightened. As I have gotten older, I stopped feeling embarassed about what brings me joy or comfort, I learned to prioritize my happiness over others' opinions. I take pride in my collection of ponies and keychains, and I love to sleep with my plushies under my 8 blankets and compression sheet each night. My emotions can be intense, so burning excess energy through fidgeting helps me. It can be good, like I get so excited I physically can't contain it. Now that I'm in college, socializing with others is vital but its something I struggle with the most. I feel like I don't have the appropriate skills as other people my age. I have been working on maintaining eye contact with people, but I'm not very good at maintaining a conversation. I'm hoping my website can be an easier way for people to get to know me.