Following the public launch of Walk In My Shoes, we asked Erin Davidson to share her thoughts on the animation, why she wanted to create it, and what she hopes it will achieve.

The animation project “Walk In My Shoes” has been really important to me, and I know it will be for a long time. I hadn’t expected it to come so far. Originally, I was just an angry fourteen-year-old writing a letter to whoever was in charge. A letter I never posted, which I’m honestly glad I didn’t. Imagine the anxiety that would have caused.

For me this became a project that has become so important and special to me, a passion that I want to share with anyone who will listen and bombard it to those who foolishly refuse to hear it, and definitely need to hear it.

People need to see, recognise and understand the individualism of an autistic person; and I think this was a great way to do so. It needs to be seen that we cannot conform to social norms, and a lot of us don’t want to, as then we wouldn’t be ourselves, a bit like a Jekyll and Hyde but without the evil ‘twin’.

I hope this can be used as a tool to bring more awareness, and realisation to not just the people in charge of how the education system is, but to people living with autism themselves. For them to be aware that they are not alone.

We, as a collective (the neurotypicals and the neurodiverse) have to work together as a whole; in a way that binds our strengths together and supports our weaknesses, to bring knowledge and understanding to the world we live in.

All it took was people to hear my voice, or rather see my words, and give me a chance to make it into something.

I want this and hope it encourages other autistics to write, draw or tell their stories through their own words. I hope it encourages everyone to be themselves.