It’s International Womens Day today – a day celebrated globally on March 8 to honour women’s achievements and advocate for gender equality. This year the theme is ‘For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment’, emphasising the urgency to achieve true gender equality. As an autistic woman, life isn’t easy, but there are endless positives and amazing things about being an autistic woman, so I thought I would share some of the things that make me proud!

• I think uniquely about things and have a different perspective, which often people are surprised by, and find really interesting. Being autistic means my brain does work a bit differently, but that means I often make observations and notice things that others don’t!

• I’m extremely loyal to my friends and family. I am proud to be a very caring person who is very committed. I will do anything for the people I love.

• I’m very open minded and accepting of peoples’ differences. I think, because I’m autistic, I’ve ended up meeting a really diverse range of people with different experiences and backgrounds, and I think that’s made me much more understanding and patient than most people!

• I have a strong sense of justice. As a black and white thinker, and someone who can’t settle when things don’t feel ‘right’, I will always fight for justice, and can’t rest if I feel someone is being unfairly treated.

• I’m very creative. I am a very artistic person, and this is very common for autistic individuals. Because we tend to be good at pattern finding and abstract thinking, and have different sensory perceptions to others, we often excel in creative things.

• I know lots and lots about my special interests – like food and brand history, and cuisine and culture. People say they like to hear me talk about these things, and I love to share what I know!!

Moving on from me – I am also very lucky to be surrounded by amazing women. My mum, my nan, my friends, and some of the incredible women I volunteer with, who are also fighting for womens rights, disability rights, human rights in general, or to improve mental health support. I also am lucky to be in a world where there are so many inspiring female role models; for example, some of my favourite artists, authors, and scientists, like Frida Kahlo, Yayoi Kusama, Marie Curie. Today is a day for celebrating all the amazing women in the world.

Happy International Womens Day!