My Autistic Experience of the Human Communication Spectrum
Not knowing that I was Autistic for the first 29 years of my life, meant that I had a lot of miscommunications with other people, because I did not understand the differences in Autistic and non-Autistic communication, or the differences in human communication, and how my communications were often being misinterpreted by the people around me; and also how I was constantly misinterpreting what other people were trying to communicate with me, because I didn’t understand communication differences, and I assumed that everyone communicated like me. When you do this, it’s really hard to decode other people’s intentions. Continue reading My Autistic Experience of the Human Communication Spectrum
Autistic & NeuroDivergent Academic Exclusion & Oppression
For Autistic People, many of us are excluded from the right to having a proper education, whether that is because we are put into these “special autism schools” that keep us out of general education, or we are excluded from education in other ways.
I spent time in general education, special education, and even gifted and talented educator. None of my needs were accommodated in these classes, they were not tailored to my individual learning needs, and the school system was very traumatizing for me. I feel lucky I survived it.
Continue reading Autistic & NeuroDivergent Academic Exclusion & Oppression
The Exclusion & Dehumanization of Autistic & NeuroDivergent People
The problem with autism is that people, in society, don’t really see Autistic People as, fully human, complete beings. We are seen as a lesser ,second-class tier, of human. We are seen as broken, defective, NeuroTypicals, that need to try harder to fit ourselves into the NeuroTypical mold, or that we have somehow failed, because we do not fit into the NeuroTypical mold. Continue reading The Exclusion & Dehumanization of Autistic & NeuroDivergent People
We Don’t Have a Definition for Autistic Success Because We Only Talk About Autistic Struggles & Pain
Autistic people are so defined, especially by the medical industry, by our struggles, pains, deficits, and the hard parts in life. Often the joys, positive experiences, in our skills are completely ignored.
We don’t even, really, have a good understanding of what Autistic success looks like, because, by definition, Autistic People are often described by our failures. Continue reading We Don’t Have a Definition for Autistic Success Because We Only Talk About Autistic Struggles & Pain
Shame Kills – Autism, NeuroDivergence, Pride, & Shame
Shame is defined as a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or perceived impropriety. That is one definition talking about how shame is experienced from the inside.
However, I want to talk more about having shame that is put on you from society and people around you; shame that is unjustified, that many NeuroDivergent, LGBTQIA, and other marginalized people may feel, and the impact that shame has on those of us who are in those groups.
Continue reading Shame Kills – Autism, NeuroDivergence, Pride, & Shame
I Am Autistic & Don’t Like Autism Awareness Month
As an Autistic Person on the internet, I really dread April. That is because I am Autistic all year round. I am out there talking about autism all year round.
All of a sudden, in April, there is this flood of non-Autistic People suddenly talking about autism from an outsider’s perspective. In April, there are a lot of people who want you to “be aware of autism” so they can sell you something.
They want to sell you services and therapies and things, because if they scare you, that autism is horrible, they can prey on that fear. Continue reading I Am Autistic & Don’t Like Autism Awareness Month
Autistic Pride Is NOT Just about the Good Parts of Being NeuroDivergent
I wanted to talk about Autistic Pride, as I talk about each and every year. I talk about it every year, because it is so important for Autistic People to be able to feel pride in ourselves, especially when society, often, tells us that we are defective, broken, and that our ways of doing things: interacting with, engaging with, and experiencing the world, are wrong; and that we should strive to cover up the NeuroDivergent parts of ourselves. Continue reading Autistic Pride Is NOT Just about the Good Parts of Being NeuroDivergent
Treating Autistic & NeuroDivergent People Equitably PT 2: Society Must Change
Part one of this series, was talking about the need for NeuroDivergent People to be able to live an authentic NeuroDivergent lifestyle.
This week it is part two talking about ethical treatment of Autistic and NeuroDivergent humans, not medical treatment. We’re talking about the treatment we receive from society.
Part two, diving in deeper, I want to talk about the need from society to accept us, and allow us to be ourselves and live openly and authentically; because, the reality is, though we need what I talked about in part one of this series, it’s not always safe for us to be open. It can make us vulnerable, to have people realize that our minds work differently.
Continue reading Treating Autistic & NeuroDivergent People Equitably PT 2: Society Must Change
Treating Autistic & NeuroDivergent People Equitably: PT 1 The Need for a NeuroDivergent Lifestyle
I want to talk to you a bit today about treatment for Autistic and NeuroDivergent people… and when I say “treatment”, I want to be very clear, I am not talking about medical treatment. I’m talking about kind, and fair, just treatment of NeuroDivergent People.
As I said, this is not medical treatment. This is how we need to be treated by society and those around us, and what we need in order to live successful, fulfilled, happy, and authentic NeuroDivergent lives. Continue reading Treating Autistic & NeuroDivergent People Equitably: PT 1 The Need for a NeuroDivergent Lifestyle
Queer, Trans, NeuroDivergent, Autistic: The Human Need for Authenticity
I knew, at the age of four or five, that I wasn’t a girl, but I couldn’t articulate what I knew, and the world told me I was a girl, and I had to get used to that somehow.
I also knew, around the same time, that I was not like other kids, but not knowing I was NeuroDivergent, also meant not having the language to describe that experience either, and falsely believing that I was an inferior, lazy, NeuroTypical child, and then, eventually, a inferior lazy NeuroTypical adult. I held myself to those NeuroTypical standards, even to my own detriment.
I forced myself to fit into their boxes, at the expense of my own mental and physical health.
I held myself to CIS heteronormative standards, often feeling like I was living a lie and pretending to be someone I wasn’t, for the comfort of other people.
I hit for safety, to blend in, and not make waves. I hid to avoid being the target of bullying and harassment, though bullies still managed to find me. That’s what happens when you grow up in a violent, hostile place, where you don’t feel you’re safe, and you are forced into the peripheries of society.
Being invisible was safer and preferable to standing out, so I did my best to be invisible, and it almost killed me.
Eventually, I got to a point where I couldn’t do it anymore. I came to a place where I could no longer maintain the complex social mask that had protected me for most of my life, and when it all fell apart, I found myself in a place of crisis and was diagnosed Autistic at 29. Continue reading Queer, Trans, NeuroDivergent, Autistic: The Human Need for Authenticity