02/04/2025
World Autism Awareness Day: The Magic of My Autistic Brain
Hi, Iâm Chrisâand Iâm part of the creative brain behind Spectra Events.
After 35 years of trying to âfit in,â Iâve come to realise that I began masking the moment I stopped feeling like myself. For years, I adapted, camouflaged, and reshaped how I presented to the worldâwithout even knowing I was doing it. That survival instinct was my normal.
But beginning the process of being diagnosed as autistic has changed everything. Itâs helped me see myself more clearly. Understand myself. Appreciate myself. And slowly but surely, Iâm beginning to unmask. To feel more âmeâ than I have in years.
Today, on World Autism Awareness Day, Iâm not just raising awarenessâIâm celebrating the magic of my autistic brain.
My brain doesnât just thinkâit builds. Itâs a full production studio working 24/7. I donât just imagine ideas, I experience them. I can picture entire projects, events, layouts, or campaigns before a single thing has been actioned. I walk into a space and see the potential instantlyânot just what it is, but what it could be. From the tiny details to the whole atmosphere, I feel it like itâs already happened.
My memories arenât snapshotsâtheyâre immersive. I can remember the colour of the light in a room, the texture of the air, the wording someone used. I can relive them with cinematic clarityâsometimes painfully, sometimes beautifully. My mind holds onto emotion like itâs part of the architecture. And when it comes to planning, imagining, creatingâI donât think in outlines. I think in entire universes.
Where some people see a moment, I see threads. Layers. Possibilities. That makes me a deep thinker, a strong feeler, and often someone who sees connections others donât. It also means I process the world in surround sound, high definition, full volume. Yes, that can be overwhelmingâbut itâs also what makes life so alive.
My brain doesnât settle for surface-levelâit goes deep. It unpacks, unpicks, reimagines, reinvents. I donât approach tasks from a checklistâI approach them like a puzzle or a painting. I bring energy, vision, and intensity. Thatâs part of my magic.
Being autistic means Iâve had to work hard to exist in a world that often asks me to be lessâto tone it down, to mask, to make myself easier. But the more I unmask, the more I realise: Iâm not too much. The world has just been too narrow in its definition of what âenoughâ looks like.
My brain isnât a limitation. Itâs a gift. A creative, expansive, fiercely feeling, relentlessly curious gift.
So today, on World Autism Awareness Day, I want to celebrate all of that. Not just awarenessâbut appreciation. Not just acceptanceâbut acknowledgement of the incredible value that neurodivergent people bring to the world.
Because this brain of mine?
Itâs not broken.
Itâs brilliant.
