Category: Relationships / Bullies / Friendships

Masking / Passing, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, Videos1 Comment

Autism & Developing Authentic Relationships – My Autistic Experience

Lyric Holmans

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

Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, Videos3 Comments
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

Lyric Holmans

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

Autistic Interests, Masking / Passing, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, VideosLeave a comment

The Challenges of being Autistic in a NonAutistic World

Lyric Holmans

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

Coworkers, Family, Masking / Passing, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, Videos5 Comments

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

Lyric Holmans

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

Children & Families, LGBTQIA+, Masking / Passing, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, VideosLeave a comment

Shame Kills – Autism, NeuroDivergence, Pride, & Shame

Lyric Holmans

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

ADHD, Autism, Children & Families, Employment, life hacks, Neurodiversity, Psychology, Relationships, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, VideosLeave a comment

Treating Autistic & NeuroDivergent People Equitably: PT 1 The Need for a NeuroDivergent Lifestyle

Lyric Holmans

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

Neurodiversity, Relationships, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, Videos1 Comment

Humanity is a Spectrum and NeuroTypical is NOT the Default

Lyric Holmans

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, Children & Families, Neurodiversity, Relationships, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, Romance, SPD, Videos2 Comments

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

Lyric Holmans

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

Coworkers, Family, Masking / Passing, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, Videos4 Comments

The Damage of Dismissing Autistic People When We Ask For Help

Lyric Holmans

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

Coworkers, Masking / Passing, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, Videos1 Comment

NeuroDiversity in the Workplace – Asking Autistic & NeuroDivergent People to Keep a NeuroTypical Pace

Lyric Holmans

One of the things that I share with organizational leaders, and members of different companies I work with, is the fact that NeuroDivergent pace, often can look different than NeuroTypical pace, and NeuroDivergent workers can have, what I like to call “variable energy reserves” and may need to adjust our schedules accordingly. Continue reading NeuroDiversity in the Workplace – Asking Autistic & NeuroDivergent People to Keep a NeuroTypical Pace