The Challenges of being Autistic in a NonAutistic World

Learning I’m Autistic has helped with some things, and made them easier. I am studying facial expressions and body language, to learn what some of that stuff means. I’m learning it in a very unnatural way, and I hear some people picked up on that naturally in life, which is hard for me to fathom… but I’m learning it.
I’m capable of understanding these things, it’s just like learning a foreign language to me. Some things, however, haven’t gotten any easier, because some things might be more difficult for some of us.
Continue reading The Challenges of being Autistic in a NonAutistic World

I See Autistic & NeuroDivergent People Who Don’t KNOW their Minds Work Differently

There are people out there in the world today who do not know that they are NeuroDivergent, and may never know in their lifetimes. Not knowing that our brains work differently from that of a lot of other people on this planet, can have impacts on us, on our mental health, and our sense of self-worth; when we constantly compare ourselves to others around us, whose brains do not work as ours do. Continue reading I See Autistic & NeuroDivergent People Who Don’t KNOW their Minds Work Differently

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

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

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

What is Autism to Me – One Autistic Person

Over the past five years, there have been many videos breaking down different questions and parts of my Autistic experience, sharing some of your experiences, and talking about what it’s like to be an Autistic person, but every now and then I still get the question…. “Well, that’s great Lyric, but what is autism, exactly?”

 It’s a question I dodge a lot of the times, if I’m honest, and that is because autism is something that’s very hard to quantify because… it is a lot of different things to a lot of people, depending on the lens through what you are viewing. For example, autism, when you ask the medical community is very different than if you ask an Autistic Person what autism is… or a parent of a newly diagnosed Autistic child.

Depending on who you ask, you’re going to get very different responses, and even asking and looking at Autistic Person to Autistic Person, what autism is within those contexts, and for each and every Autistic Individual, also, can be very different.
Continue reading What is Autism to Me – One Autistic Person

Humanity is a Spectrum and NeuroTypical is NOT the Default

Hey humans Lyric here, and there’s something that really bothers me with how even I talk about autism and the NeuroDivergent experience…. and that is how we always seem to use NeuroTypical people as the baseline for human existence. If you are at all curious and want to learn more, please do stay tuned. Continue reading Humanity is a Spectrum and NeuroTypical is NOT the Default

Autism & “Age-Inappropriate Interests” – My Autistic Experience

This week I’m going to be talking about some of my interests as an Autistic Person that were deemed air quotes “inappropriate” by adults around me.
If you’ve ever heard that sometimes Autistic children “may have interests that are not appropriate for their age or grade level.” This would be me sharing my experience of that. If you are at all curious, please do stay tuned. Continue reading Autism & “Age-Inappropriate Interests” – My Autistic Experience

The Damage of Dismissing Autistic People When We Ask For Help

Makeup is just one of many reasons non-autistic people have told me that I couldn’t possibly be Autistic and I’m going to share a few of the other reasons, things I have heard. I’d love for you to share with us things that you have heard as well. Please drop a comment. Continue reading The Damage of Dismissing Autistic People When We Ask For Help