Category: mental health

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A black and white photo of two disabled children in strait jackets, chained to a radiator in a room with dirty walls and floors.

No, there aren’t suddenly ‘more Autistic people’ or ADHDers. We’ve always been here.

Lyric Holmans

It never fails, multiple times a week, when I share my experience of being Autistic or ADHD, some ignorant waffle feels the need to pop into my comments section with some sort of nonsense such as (but in no way limited to) “You’re not Autistic“ (or ADHD), “Everyone’s Autistic/ADHD or Neurodivergent these days“, “It’s all the chemicals in the food/air/water or the vaccines“. There is also the classic “We didn’t have so many people who are Autistic or ADHD in my day…. and none of it is true.

Just because you didn’t, personally, know any Neurodivergent people when you were growing up, it doesn’t mean we didn’t exist. Continue reading No, there aren’t suddenly ‘more Autistic people’ or ADHDers. We’ve always been here.

Children & Families, Relationships / Bullies / Friendships, Substack1 Comment
I am Autistic - Neurodivergent Rebel

I AM Autistic – Please Don’t Ever Call Me a ‘Person with Autism’

Lyric Holmans

Why, to me, “Autistic person” and “person with Autism” are two VERY different phrases, and why I never want to be called a “person with Autism” – please note this is just my PERSONAL preference. Over the years, I’ve often … Continue reading I AM Autistic – Please Don’t Ever Call Me a ‘Person with Autism’

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An article titled 'Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum,' featuring a digital illustration of a character expressing dismay, alongside a red 'X' mark over the title.

An Autistic Response to: Uta Frith’s “Why I no longer think autism is a spectrum.”

Lyric Holmans

“The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom,” researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass in a recent interview, and my response as a late-diagnosed Autistic adult. Continue reading An Autistic Response to: Uta Frith’s “Why I no longer think autism is a spectrum.”

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My Autistic Truth: My Real Voice Isn’t the One That Comes Out of My Mouth – The Accessibility of Typing: One Autistic Person’s Experience

Lyric Holmans

Hyperlexia, Handwriting Pain, and Finding Freedom in a Word Document – Typing vs. Handwriting: An Autistic Perspective on Fine Motor Skills and Working Memory #MyAutisticTruth Continue reading My Autistic Truth: My Real Voice Isn’t the One That Comes Out of My Mouth – The Accessibility of Typing: One Autistic Person’s Experience

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NeuroDivergent Rebel's The Weight of Normal by Lyric Rivera - a teal book with purple text and a pink brain, there is also a person holding a heavy boulder on their shoulders - cover text reads: Assimilate or Be Punished: A NeuroDivergent, Queer Memoir of Survival and Awakening in a World That Demands Conformity A Look at the harms and traumas of NeuroDivergent Conversion "Therapy" and other methods of forced assimilation.

The Autistic Burnout That Led Me Home to Myself: The Life I Built Was a Prison. My Autism Diagnosis Handed Me the Key.

Lyric Holmans

My Battery Was Draining Faster Than It Could Charge. My Needs Weren’t the Problem. Ignoring Them Was. When I was diagnosed Autistic, more than 9 years ago now, I was at a low point in my life. I was in … Continue reading The Autistic Burnout That Led Me Home to Myself: The Life I Built Was a Prison. My Autism Diagnosis Handed Me the Key.

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Lyric Rivera poses in their RV, holding up their latest book, NeuroDivergent Rebel’s The Weight of Normal. Lyric is wearing a black tank too with the words “Refusing assimilation into NeuroTypical society” and blue jeans, and they are smiling at the camera.

“You’re Too Smart to Be Acting This Way” & The Lifelong Harm of Neuronormative Expectations: What My ‘Gifted’ Label Actually Cost Me – A Late-Diagnosed Autistic Perspective

Lyric Holmans

My life with late-identified autism, healing from masking and forced assimilation, and learning about the neurodiversity paradigm, after being diagnosed Autistic at the age of 29.
Continue reading “You’re Too Smart to Be Acting This Way” & The Lifelong Harm of Neuronormative Expectations: What My ‘Gifted’ Label Actually Cost Me – A Late-Diagnosed Autistic Perspective