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
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
Lyric and David answer: “How do you maintain a healthy relationship while on the spectrum?” Continue reading AskingAutistics – David Rivera – How do you maintain a Healthy Relationship while on the Spectrum?
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
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
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
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
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
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 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