What's Your Autism Story? - A Walk in Our Shoes: Autism in Acadiana

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What's Your Autism Story?

1/19/2014 1:54:18 PM

The purpose of this autism community blog is to help answer questions, address concerns, or simply be a sounding board when you need one. We aim to provide resources, support, education, and awareness for those whose lives are affected by autism.

Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Sabrina LeBeouf and I am the newly appointed Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Autism Society Acadiana. My niche is marketing, web communications, graphics, etc. I am a writer/teacher/philosopher/ artist, among other things. I am also autistic.

Autism entered my life in 2009. My nephew, then 2 years old, was diagnosed with autism. Obsessive researcher that I am, I began harvesting information in support of my family because we knew nothing about the condition. I did not expect to find answers to my own personal questions in my research, but that is exactly what happened.

I then sought professional evaluation because I was desperate, as I’d always been, to understand what was so different about me. I wanted an answer(s). I always felt it, knew it, but a part of me held onto the possibility that I was wrong about being different. All my life, I was just being paranoid when the truth would surface that I was, in fact, normal. But that’s not what happened. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s just after my 30^th birthday.

My diagnosis was bittersweet: an answer to the puzzle and affirmation that I was indeed not "normal” after all. In many ways, I am still coming to terms with my diagnosis. I often wonder if I would forgo diagnosis if I could choose to do it again. I wonder if it would be easier to continue living without knowing.

Who am I? I still ask myself everyday. But with more fear now than before. Because I know now that I may never know. I know I may never "get better.” I may always feel like everyone knows something I don’t, that even real connections (though rare) with others will always feel that something is missing, lacking. I may always be misunderstood. But there are certainly worse things than being misunderstood. I try to remember what Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "To be great is to be misunderstood.”

Posted by: Sabrina LeBeouf, Vice President of Business | Submit comment | Tell a friend

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5 Comments

Vickie Nettles

1/19/2014 5:07:21 PM

Great launch for our very 1st blog! Thanks for taking the reins on this project and for introducing yourself in such a succinct way. I look forward to working with you!

Vickie Nettles
Catherine's mom :-)

Penny Miller

4/30/2014 6:38:23 PM

Thank you, Sabrina, (by the way, I LOVE that name!), for sharing yourself with us. You are inspiring. I am new to the Autism Society and hope to connect with you and others and explore all these wonderful personalities.

Sabrina LeBeouf

5/12/2014 3:50:54 PM

Thanks, Penny! It means a lot to me to have someone refer to me as "inspiring." ;)

Napue

8/10/2014 7:14:20 PM

Rosette meredale returns clovis ocean propriety sugaree ravello Bjorn

Sharpes

8/11/2014 4:17:46 AM

The beauty of the Keltec PMR 30 is that with only one spare magazine she now has 60 rounds. Though I canâ€™t imagine a scenario where that many bullets would be needed, she has a practical redundancy should the first magazine. Also, just because I canâ€™t imagine a scenario does not mean she should be limited.

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