black and white photo of a pile of human skulls

Autistic Burnout Saved My Life & Is HOW I learned that I’m Autistic

Many Autistic People have co-occurring health conditions, in addition to Autism. I am no exception. When I became burned out, these conditions flared, leading to my diagnosis at the age of 29.
Continue reading Autistic Burnout Saved My Life & Is HOW I learned that I’m Autistic

Lyric appears on the edge of a cliff at sunrise, their purple hair and red garment matching the red dirt and pink and purple skies nicely, as they pose, teeth exposed in a HUGE grin for the photo.

Autism, Understanding, Rebirth, Disclosures, Loss, & Love

Unfortunately, though I was excited to share this new, life-affirming information with others, MOST of the people in my life were NOT as enthusiastic, as my friend had been, when I attempted to share my Autism diagnosis with them. Continue reading Autism, Understanding, Rebirth, Disclosures, Loss, & Love

AskingAutistics – David Rivera – Autism, NeuroDivergence, & RV Life

Lyric and David answer: How is RV life different from non-RV life, for you, and possibly other ND folks?

This is Pt 5 of the interview with David. Stay tuned for pt 6 next week. Continue reading AskingAutistics – David Rivera – Autism, NeuroDivergence, & RV Life

AskingAutistics – David Rivera pt 1 – Autism, Echolalia, and Mimicry

I’ve been thinking about the direction. I want NeuroDivergent Rebel to go in the new year, and I’ve built up with the help of all of you, this platform that I think is really awesome, but I think it has the potential to be even more awesome. And as many of you know, the reason I started asking autistic is because I never want my voice to be the only voice that’s heard on this platform.
So I ask a lot of questions, hoping that many of you will share your experiences as well. And in the new year, I’m hoping to start interviewing other NeuroDivergent voices in the community. Continue reading AskingAutistics – David Rivera pt 1 – Autism, Echolalia, and Mimicry

NeuroDivergent Emotional Differences – My AutDHD (Autistic ADHD) Perspective

I feel my emotions very intensely, and because of that intense internal emotional experience, sometimes that results in me having a very intense outward emotional expression, that can be seen by other people around me. Continue reading NeuroDivergent Emotional Differences – My AutDHD (Autistic ADHD) Perspective

Autism & Developing Authentic Relationships – My Autistic Experience

I’m covering a reader question: “wondering if you could cover the topic of connecting with other people, and building friendships while on the spectrum.”

Something else that’s incredibly important, for me, as an Autistic Person, and my relationships with other people, is:

I need people in my life to be willing to accept me for the whole person, my strengths, my weaknesses, all of my identities, my Autistic traits, my me being a Queer Person. All of these things have to be okay.

The people in my life can’t be people who need for me to put parts of myself away, when I’m around them.
Continue reading Autism & Developing Authentic Relationships – My Autistic Experience

Two young men, one white and one black, bullying crying medium brown skinned woman, with long dark, curly hair

Autism, ADHD, and Bullying – My NeuroDivergent Autistic/ADHD (AutDHD) Experience

Some of the meanest, and cruelest, things that were done to me, as a young person, by other young people, were people tricking me into doing things, because I thought they were my friends, but really they were trying to trick me into doing things that would get me in trouble, or that would amuse them. When I was very young, I didn’t understand, yet, that people would sometimes act like you’re friends, to get you into trouble. Continue reading Autism, ADHD, and Bullying – My NeuroDivergent Autistic/ADHD (AutDHD) Experience

Autism & Vocalizations – My Autistic Experience with Echolalia, Palilalia, and Verbal Stimming

Though each and every single Autistic Person is different, many Autistic People make different noises, repeat sounds, or make other vocalizations.

There are three main types of Autistic vocalizations I’m going to be talking about in this week’s video: the first one is echolalia, the next one is Palilalia, and verbal stimming. Continue reading Autism & Vocalizations – My Autistic Experience with Echolalia, Palilalia, and Verbal Stimming

Things I Got in Trouble for Growing up as an Undiagnosed Autistic ADHDer

I didn’t find out I was Autistic until I was 29, and my ADHD wasn’t diagnosed until several years later, however, autism and ADHD are both lifelong neurodevelopmental differences.
This means I was Autistic and ADHD my entire life, growing up, as a child, and I will be Autistic ADHD, my brain will be the same, the day I die.
There were obvious manifestations of my brain difference as a child growing up, many of which were labeled as “behavioral problems” and dismissed, or I was constantly scolded for acting in a very Autistic ADHD way.
Continue reading Things I Got in Trouble for Growing up as an Undiagnosed Autistic ADHDer