Nice to meet you

Introducing Noah Seback

You see me and you see a tall young man, head above the crowd, making nonsensical utterances.
You see a jerking body and furtive glances.
You see a wildly flicking spider in my hand.
You see a hat perched disjointedly on my ever moving head.
You may even see a meltdown: “terrible two’s” style.

But what you don’t see, what you’ve been conditioned to NOT see,
is the real me underneath.
I am autistic but so much more.

I long for you to see my sameness as well as my differences.
I have a wonderful sense of humor and love to bring a smile or laugh.
I cherish friends and family above all but my deep faith in God.
I’m happiest to be out in nature seeking peace or thrills as the case may be. I love to make believers out of letter board skeptics through intelligent discourse.

I can think and understand without fault thanks to my autistic brain. That, you can’t see. What you can seeis my body doing idiotic things that don't match my beautiful brain.

But I am a person with preferences, feelings, ambitions, ideas and opinions. Let me have a voice.
Let me be a person.
Let me contribute.

I will soar.

Soaring was not always an option for me. For sixteen years I had been locked in the cage of my own body. I had resigned myself to the fact that a key did not exist. Only God knew the real me.We became great friends and He taught me patience, forgiveness, and contentment. But I am no saint; I had my moments. Just ask my mom.

Imagine that for a decade and a half, your mouth was duct taped and your hands and arms were tied behind your back. How could you express an intelligent thought? Oh I was thinking plenty of intelligent thoughts, but my body betrayed me. It still does. Can't speak, can't write, can't type, can't sign, can't even point on my own. My muscles and limbs don’t listen to my spectacularly thinking brain like yours do. And yes you heard me correctly, the thinking part of Autism is spectacular-a gift.The body not responding or responding in weird, ridiculous ways is the curse.

For humans, seeing is believing and first impressions are lasting.What you see on the outside isn't me.  This is me.