When an Autistic person enters a shutdown, we may go completely (or mostly) silent, stare blankly, and not be able to speak (and may struggle to decode and understand spoken words). We may withdraw or become completely (or mostly) still. Continue reading The Terrifying Reality of an Autistic Shutdown (It’s Not the Silent Treatment)
I’m running a fundraiser with these super-cute, limited-edition Neurodivergent Rebel hats. What do YOU need to be successful in the workplace? Autistic and other Neurodivergent people are more likely to be underemployed or unemployed. As an Autistic person, something I … Continue reading I Need YOUR help keeping this blog going…
Autistic burnout is a topic that I know intimately, for multiple reasons.
As an Autistic person who was not identified as such for most of my life, due to not knowing about my Autistic mind and the accompanying needs associated with my Autistic brain and nervous system, I spent most of my life cycling in and out of Autistic burnout.
It was also Autistic burnout that, eventually, led to me finally being diagnosed as Autistic a few months before my 30th birthday.
Being burned out was, for many years, my normal. Continue reading Autistic Burnout – The ‘Mystery Illness’ That Doctors Missed for 30 Years (And Why a Vacation Won’t Fix It)
Sticky post
This empowering workbook has been designed to help Autistic adults, whether newly diagnosed or self-identifying, to develop a positive understanding of their unique Autistic identity. Continue reading Get Autism, Identity and Me: A Practical Workbook to Empower Adults – ORDER NOW!
Ten years ago, I walked out of my diagnostician’s office with a label and a list of memoirs about other people’s lives. No one told me how to figure out mine… Continue reading It took me 10 years to figure out my Autistic needs. We built a shortcut – Autism, Identity and Me: A Practical Workbook to Empower Adults, the Autism workbook I needed.
Growing up, I struggled a lot in school. Academics weren’t my strengths, with one exception – reading and writing.
From my earliest school days, and even before I started school, I was in love with books and dreamed one day I might write them. However, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever achieve this goal. Continue reading The Dream I Almost Gave Up On – Young Me Thought My Life Wasn’t Interesting Enough to Write About. I Was Wrong.
We’re taught to compete and to measure our success against our peers. If we’re not “keeping up“ or falling “low in the ranks,” it is a failure. Continue reading I wasn’t lazy. The system was rigged. – Your ‘honor roll’ wasn’t hard work. It was privilege.
In cultures that champion self-sufficiency, and discourage people from asking for help, or speaking about struggles and weaknesses, people with disabilities may feel unable to ask for the accommodations they need (and are legally entitled to), because doing so means they may be looked down upon by leadership and peers. Continue reading Organizational Culture: It’s More than Ping Pong and Beer Taps – Excerpt from Workplace Neurodiversity Rising by Lyric Rivera
I didn’t know I was Autistic until I was 29. Before that, I just knew I was tired—tired of being told my best wasn’t good enough, tired of feeling like a problem that needed solving, and so exhausted. Hi, my … Continue reading How Being the “Problem Child” Nearly Killed Me (And Why My Autism Diagnosis Saved My Life)
Today, we dove into unmasking with the ups, downs, difficulties, and joys of it all. Continue reading Late Diagnosed/Identified: A mini series, episode 2 – Neurodivergent Unmasking
