Autism
Defining Terms (AA23)
I thought it would be helpful to have some definitions of some terms that I might use this month (and also throughout my writing). *** Autism/Autistic: I will be posting several definitions, one tomorrow and […]
autism
Autism
Person-First or Identity-First? (AA23)
On this site, you will always see me saying “Autistic person” (or its variants, Autistic adult, Autistic child, etc) instead of “person with autism”. But you might have heard (just like I did in school) […]
Autism
Autism Acceptance Month 2023
Happy April! You may or may not know this as Autism Awareness Month. There have been campaigns for decades, but growing to prominence with social media culture, about “light it up blue”, the puzzle piece […]
Autism
Explaining Neurodivergence with Phones
One way that I sometimes explain the concept of neurodivergence — that autism, or ADHD* are different wirings of the brain, without being something “wrong” with the brain — to children (or sometimes to their […]
Autism
Communicating =/= Speaking
Communicating is not always speaking. It can be easy to write off neurodivergent people’s voices because they don’t always sound like neurotypical people’s voices. Imagine finally taking the effort and time to explain something that […]
Autism
Autism & Disability
Let’s talk about euphemisms. When non-disabled people dodge around the word “disabled” because they think it’s an uncomfortable word, that’s a euphemism. When they say someone has “special needs” or is “differently-abled” or is “challenged”, […]
Autism
Sensory Profiles
“Sensory” is one of those buzzwords these days in parenting groups, on Pinterest, and in relation to different diagnoses. I’ve seen people use it to mean pretty much everything. When I talk about sensory processing, […]
Autism
Pervasively Autistic
This is what it means to say that autism is a neurodivergence (as opposed to, i.e., a disease). I think, if I were writing this quote, I would probably put quotes around the word ‘normal’ — […]
Autism
Social Skills for Neurotypicals
When you start to frame autism, ADHD, or other neurodivergences as really and truly just a difference instead of a disorder… It leaves space for realizing things like how the “social skills” that we teach […]
Autism
Autism Self-Diagnosis is Valid
In the Autistic community, self-diagnosis is accepted as a valid journey to diagnosis. There might be reasons to pursue medical diagnosis, which could include the affirmation of hearing it from an external provider/professional; needing medical […]