Our mindset about success and failures

Our mindset about success and failures is mostly based on the constant starts and stops our lives have had from the beginning. For every step forward, there are often three or four steps back. It makes moving forward really difficult. It is in this backdrop that we need to take a fresh look at how success should be measured.

Most days, just being able to get to the playing field should be considered success in our case. We need to fight our own bodies. We need to overcome the structures that have no understanding of us and hence inherently designed to fail us. We have to have the grace to accept love and yet, in the same situation, have the courage to push back against any support that is packaged as help and not empowerment.

It is not exciting to say that managing our normal day to day is in itself a success and should be celebrated as such. It also begs the fundamental question, who gets to decide who is successful or not? Who writes these rules?

There is no question that most of our tribe would go on to do things never imagined humanly possible before. But we would be losing the plot if we lose sight of what need to overcome on a daily basis and why that should find a prominent place in any debate around success.

Swarit Gopalan

About the Author

I am an 11-yr old autistic, nonspeaker that uses letterboard to spell/keyboard to type to communicate.I live with my family in Florida and go to Invictus Academy for school.

I find a lot of solace in expressing myself through poetry. Music and nature also help me stay in the present, there is nothing better for me than to have my movement create a symphony with nature and to truly enjoy the sights and sounds. Living in harmony with nature is my life’s mission.

Right from the time of diagnosis, we are only told about all things we cannot or will not be able to do. Along with the check that is written to the doctor for the diagnosis, it often feels like our agency is written off too, especially without a reliable communication mechanism.

Time to change the paradigm with more non speaker voices. It has always been a dream to share my thoughts and perspectives with the world so that I can be one of the catalysts to creating a better understanding of non speakers in general.

My hope is that my words will help change the world from sympathy and pity for those like me to one of deeper understanding of our lives and allyship to ensure our rights.

Our mindset about success and failures