Image Description: "Centered in the midst of a shadowy blue-grey background, is a semi-cartoon drawing of a young looking person with light skin and short brown hair perched on the edge of a stage. They are wearing a purple shirt and brown shorts, and have large pale circle eyes that appear to be welling with tears. In the background, ghosts peek from around the corners of clutter and signs lined in blue. Some signs say: "Always watched never alone” “Please don’t touch” “Come see the freak." Some signs are glowing yellow. The background has faded purple pills as well as a large wooden door to the right of the sitting person."

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Reflection:

"I haven’t known I’m autistic for very long. But I’ve begun to reflect on my life with this new knowledge. Autism is a great thing, but I view it as disabling as well. Yes, I can do everyday things ‘normal people’ can do, but I do it with great difficulty. It’s always too overwhelming or confusing, and my feelings of such get externalized by my stims or otherwise ‘off’ behavior, and people tend to notice these actions.

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This is what my submission draws upon. The sensation that I’m being constantly watched and judged, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. People have seen my stims as something funny and made fun of them while I become increasingly frustrated. I see things online where people with disabilities are only used to boost the popularity of another (abled) person. It feels like we’re put on display, and it isn’t a pleasant feeling.

 

I wanted to express the feeling of powerlessness, of being viewed as an outsider, of needing to be compliant to things that make you uncomfortable. I did this in the way I’m most able to, through my art. I chose to submit this piece to give others a view into an experience that I live through everyday, and to help them think about the effect their actions can have on others." -Grey Turner