Could your child or loved one be NeuroDivergent? What to look for, and how you can best support the NeuroDivergent young people you care about.
Continue reading I wish my the adults in my life could have known…
Sometimes, people who say they “are not Autistic” actually ARE Autistic (but may not know it… yet). They’re not trying to be dismissive.
Continue reading “I do that, and I’m NOT Autistic!” Are you SURE?
When Feeling Too Much Hurts: The Secret Pain of Hyper-Empathy – How Being Autistically Super Sensitive Can Be Debilitating
Continue reading Empathy Overload: The Hidden Cost of Being Hyper-Empathetic and Autistic
We live in a society where people are expected to follow the dominant social and hierarchal norms, and those who cannot fall in line (or refuse to) are often mocked, scolded, medicalized, dehumanized, and punished for their inability to blend in. Continue reading Human Binaries: NeuroDivergent and Queer – Coloring Outside the Lines Will Be Punished
Something that far too many non-autistic people get wrong about Autistic People is thinking that we lack social skills when, in reality, we have social skills, but they’re not the same social skills non-autistics use.
Autistic People socialize (and play) Autistically. Continue reading If Not ABA, then What? Autistic People, Social Skills, and “Appropriate Play”- We socialize and play Autistically!
Recently, I asked my NeuroDivergent readers if anyone has “ever tried to “punish” the NeuroDivergence out of” them (while being reasonably sure I knew the answer to my question).
Overwhelming comments came pouring in on various platforms, with stories from my readers telling how they had been harmed by people around them (who insisted on unfair and unrealistic expectations of NeuroTypicality).
I knew there would be Autistic People and ADHDers who had been punished for our NeuroTypes because many of my readers are my age (or older), and when we were growing up, punishment was the standard of care for kids who struggled to fall in line.
What surprised me was how many people with other NeuroTypes were also punished for things beyond their control. Continue reading Have You Ever Been Punished (or Scolded) for Your NeuroDivergence?
When I didn’t know I was NeuroDivergent, I used to feel like a failed NeuroTypical Person (because the expectations for me to be a “good” NeuroTypical seemed impossibly out of reach).
“Why can’t I just _______ ?” – Do something NeuroTypicals find simple.
“Why do they hate me? Why do they think I’m weird?”
“If I could only ______.” – Insert some activity that NeuroTypicals don’t struggle with.
“What’s WRONG with me? Why am I such a failure?” Continue reading I Used to Hate Myself When I Thought I was NeuroTypical
Autistic People may struggle to express our love (and many other emotions) in ways non-autistics expect us to. Autistic Love is Different – That Doesn’t Make it Wrong! Continue reading #ActuallyAutistic #AskingAutistics – what is YOUR experience of love like? How do YOU express your love and affection for those you care about?
Unfortunately, sometimes the people you think (hope) will be safe aren’t always safe. It can be tricky to know if someone will accept you or judge you harshly, thinking less of you when you tell them you’re Queer (regardless of what flavor Queer you are).
For those of us who feel safe enough to live “outside of the closet,” coming out is something we will choose to do (or NOT to do) repeatedly our entire lives. Continue reading Coming out: It’s not something we do “just once.” It’s something we will do over and over again our entire lives.
Every human being, NeuroDivergent or NeuroTypical, has a unique sensory profile. This can vary significantly from person to person, even from Autistic person to Autistic person.
Continue reading Autistic Sensory Sensitive Life with Competing & Conflicting Sensory Needs
