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.
When Your Rock Bottom Goes Unseen – Why Expressing Pain and Discomfort is a Disruption to the Status Quo and What Happens When You Can’t Fake Being Fine
Continue reading Invisible & Drowning: My Negativity Was a Cry for Help – Toxic Positivity Kills: My Year of Being Told to Smile While Drowning
Physically Present, Mentally Gone: Pine-Scented Souls & Resets – Finding Clarity in the Wild
Continue reading Does Your Soul Have a Reset Button? Mine’s Hidden Deep in the Woods.
It has been years since Damian Milton rocked the world with the paper: On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem.’
In Damian’s paper, the double empathy problem was defined as:
A disjuncture in reciprocity between two differently disposed social actors which becomes more marked the wider the disjuncture in dispositional perceptions of the lifeworld – perceived as a breach in the ‘natural attitude’ of what constitutes ‘social reality’ for ‘neuro-typical’ people and yet an everyday and often traumatic experience for ‘autistic people.’
What does that mean in more simple language? I will explain in this month’s video. Continue reading Autistic Empathy – Autism and the Double Empathy Problem
I am a 37-year-old Autistic Adult who has fairly intense sensory sensitivities (that can trigger disorientation, vertigo, migraines, nausea, and other stomach problems). However, I did not understand this crucial fact about myself for most of my life.
One might ask, “If things were so bad, why wasn’t your Autism identified earlier?”
When I was first diagnosed Autistic (more than seven years ago now), I had the same question, though now I know the answer -it was noticed and mislabeled. Continue reading From Shame to Self-Discovery: My Journey with Autism, Sensory Overload, the Pain of Behaviorism, and the Relief in Unexpected Places
From everyday overwhelm to life-changing clarity: How discovering my Autistic brain unlocked a world of unexpected sensory truths and transformed my adult life.
Continue reading Sensory Awakening: 10 Surprising Lessons I Learned About Sensory Processing After Being Diagnosed Autistic in Adulthood
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
Because our needs can change throughout our lifetimes (and even daily), the trick is finding balance by learning what different types of stimuli can help us in the various situations and environments we find ourselves in. Continue reading The First Environment was Overstimulating, The Second Environment was Understimulating, but the Last Environment was Just Right
“Defiant,” “oppositional,” “strong-willed,” “opinionated,” “inflexible,” “disobedient,” “contrarian,” “insubordinate,” “rigid,” “unruly,” “bull-headed,” – if it’s another word for rebel I’ve been called it. This is the main reason I named my blog “NeuroDivergent Rebel” – because I’m reclaiming a term used to describe me for most of my life (one that was not intended as a compliment).
The reasons for my “rebellions” were often misunderstood by the adults around me, especially when I would “refuse” to do even the things I wanted to do and enjoyed (when those things felt compelled). Continue reading Stubborn Rebellious Child: Autistic, Demand Avoidant, and Anxious, with a High Need for Autonomy
