Imagine that you sit down to watch a movie. You pop yourself a bowl of popcorn to go with it…maybe your favorite toppings, whether salt and butter or marshmallow or Parmesan cheese or something else…you pick up the remote, hit play, and get ready to watch the movie while eating your popcorn. Then somebody takes … Read more
This is a Spanish language translation of this post, which is in English. Post traducido del original en Ingles. En lo particular no me gusta mucho utilizar el término “espectro autista” porque desgraciadamente se sigue utilizando para discriminar o desacreditar autistas. La experiencia autista es muy distinta de persona a persona como se explica en … Read more
This is a Spanish language translation of this post, which is in English. Post traducido del original en Ingles. Hoy es el Día Mundial del Autismo y como tal hoy quiero hablar de las diferentes formas en que nos identificamos a lxs autistas. En esta página verán que el término que más usaré será “autista” … Read more
I want you to imagine for a moment that…everything is really good right now. Imagine that all the things on your to-do list that feel like “have to”s (instead of “get to”s) are taken care of. Someone is going to bring you dinner and it’s food you love and your body is hungry for it. … Read more
If you are pursuing diagnosis for your neurodivergent child, it’s okay to take your neuro-affirming lens back “off” in order to talk to the doctor about your child. What I mean is that you are not a bad parent or you don’t love your child less if you play the system by its own rules. … Read more
I don’t think I could say it better or simpler than the I CAN Network said it here. That’s why I’ve posted all month about Autism Acceptance instead of just awareness. That’s what the difference is for me. Do we need more awareness and (accurate) education? To inform and remove stereotypes? Definitely, 100%, absolutely yes. … Read more
I mentioned in an earlier post this month how a lot of adults will get diagnosed with autism later in life, especially if they have a child who is diagnosed as a child. They’ll recognize traits in their kid that they shared when they were a kid. I remember reading a book when I was … Read more
Let me tell you a fable. Once upon a time, an expert doctor was studying a child who ran away from rooms that had air-conditioners in them. Air-conditioners had only recently been invented, and it took some doing to figure out exactly what the child was running away from, but without a doubt, if he … Read more
I get long-winded. You’ve been reading my posts this month; you know this. 😉 This one, shockingly, doesn’t require me to be long-winded at all. When should parents tell their kids they’re Autistic? -Is the parent able to speak about it with an emphasis on the neutral and positive? (i.e., have they had time to … Read more
If I say “imagine a historical figure who was known for struggling with socializing, possibly even considered a ‘failure’ by mainstream criteria such as schooling, yet was intensely successful in one particular area”, you might think of various great inventors, writers, scientists, mathematicians… While it’s dangerous to retroactively try to diagnose people with autism, especially … Read more