This is a submission for theFuture Writing Challenge: How Technology Is Changing Things.

Dear Future Me,

We’ve already been through so many changes, and we know how essential technology has been to our growth—and how vital it will continue to be.

For so long, we struggled with communication and socialization. Then, when home computers and the internet came along, we took our first clumsy step toward improvement.

It was a space where the things we loved didn’t feel so strange anymore. We found a place where we could truly be ourselves—meeting people from all over, having fun with faraway friends, picking up new hobbies, and learning.

For years, we were just users, never imagining this could become a career. But thanks to YouTube videos and a desire to make life easier for others (back when we were working in architecture and urban planning), we realized we could stop being just users and start creating technology ourselves.

We began studying, earned technical and college degrees in the field, landed remote development jobs, and today, we live a more comfortable life because of it.

A lot of time has passed, and once again, technology helped us take another step toward self-understanding.

Access to information led us to specialists who diagnosed us with autism.

It was a revelation—a light shed on all the pain we felt trying to fit into a world built for typical people. We’re adapting and living better now, but we still need support.

So, Future Me, I know you’ll have that support with the evolving technology—more insights into our traits, better alternative communication tools, and easier ways to handle the tasks that still cause us distress.

I’ll see you in the future, brighter than ever! 💖