Tag: School

Children & Families, Masking / Passing, Substack1 Comment
‘Ditch the ear defenders: head equips autistic girls for real life‘ with the subtitle “Sarah Wild, who leads Britain’s only autistic girls’ school, says mainstream teachers should make fewer adjustments and tell children it’s OK to feel uncomfortable“ has been making the rounds recently. - with an emoji of Lyric and the word “NO!” in the bottom corner.

Why Do We Celebrate Teachers Who Refuse to Make Adjustments for Disabled Kids?

Lyric Holmans

Sensory distress is not behavioral; it is neurological.

We wouldn’t ask non-autistic children to sit on a chair made of razor blades all day, to teach them that “it’s OK to feel uncomfortable”….

Still, with Autistic people, there is a toxic attitude that “the world isn’t sensory friendly.” This paints us as the problem, instead of challenging the systemic flaws and barriers that make life for Autistic people more difficult.

These “adjustments” that Sarah Wild is so against are disability supports, accommodations that Autistic people need to thrive and be our best selves, that are legally protected in many parts of the world. Continue reading Why Do We Celebrate Teachers Who Refuse to Make Adjustments for Disabled Kids?

Substack
Young Lyric, sitting under a tree at a birthday party.

Assimilate or Be Punished: My Multiply NeuroDivergent School Years – They Called it Bad Behavior; It Was Unmet Needs

Lyric Holmans

Sometimes, Autism that is outwardly disruptive can be “beaten into submission” until it is “less disruptive” to the outside viewer (as mine was).

However, this can lead to increased internal disruptions—and, in my case, more meltdowns, other kinds of overload and trauma responses, as well as isolation (due to not projecting my authentic self to the world) and a lost sense of self and identity (due to being forced to separate from and be ashamed of “undesirable” parts of myself by a society that wouldn’t allow me to bring my whole self to most spaces). Continue reading Assimilate or Be Punished: My Multiply NeuroDivergent School Years – They Called it Bad Behavior; It Was Unmet Needs

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My Autistic Experience With Eye Contact and Having My AuDHD Traits Treated Behaviorally In School

Lyric Holmans

My Autistic Experience With Eye-Contact: I don’t need to look at you to speak to you (or hear you) Growing up, especially in school, I was often scolded for “not paying attention” (regardless of whether I was actually paying attention … Continue reading My Autistic Experience With Eye Contact and Having My AuDHD Traits Treated Behaviorally In School

Masking / Passing, Substack1 Comment
Hyperlexic Autistic Life: Most of the Time, Writing is Easier for Me than Speaking (and takes way less of my energy). Writing IS my language; it is more natural (to me) than speaking. My written voice is authentic, reflecting my feelings and opinions more accurately than when I use my mouth to communicate.

Hyperlexic Autistic Life: Most of the Time, Writing is Easier for Me than Speaking (and takes way less of my energy)

Lyric Holmans

Most of the Time, Writing is Easier for Me than Speaking (and takes way less of my energy). Writing IS my language; it is more natural (to me) than speaking. My written voice is authentic, reflecting my feelings and opinions more accurately than when I use my mouth to communicate.
Continue reading Hyperlexic Autistic Life: Most of the Time, Writing is Easier for Me than Speaking (and takes way less of my energy)

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a person with long brown hair holds a red fidget spinner

Things I Didn’t Realize Were Related to Being NeuroDivergent (Autistic and ADHD or AuDHD) Before I Was Diagnosed “with Autism” and ADHD

Lyric Holmans

You may relate to some things on my list if you are Autistic and ADHD. You may also not connect with my list (because we are all unique individuals).
Continue reading Things I Didn’t Realize Were Related to Being NeuroDivergent (Autistic and ADHD or AuDHD) Before I Was Diagnosed “with Autism” and ADHD

Children & Families, Masking / Passing, Substack3 Comments

Abused at School: Why Autistic Kids May Not Speak Up When They’ve Been Harmed by a Teacher

Lyric Holmans

I’d been told to listen to these adults and do what they said, and they had said I was “bad,” and I believed them. Since I thought I was “bad,” I felt I deserved all the punishment (abuse) I received.
Continue reading Abused at School: Why Autistic Kids May Not Speak Up When They’ve Been Harmed by a Teacher

Children & Families, Family, Masking / Passing, Videos1 Comment

Things I Got in Trouble for Growing up as an Undiagnosed Autistic ADHDer

Lyric Holmans

I didn’t find out I was Autistic until I was 29, and my ADHD wasn’t diagnosed until several years later, however, autism and ADHD are both lifelong neurodevelopmental differences.
This means I was Autistic and ADHD my entire life, growing up, as a child, and I will be Autistic ADHD, my brain will be the same, the day I die.
There were obvious manifestations of my brain difference as a child growing up, many of which were labeled as “behavioral problems” and dismissed, or I was constantly scolded for acting in a very Autistic ADHD way.
Continue reading Things I Got in Trouble for Growing up as an Undiagnosed Autistic ADHDer