Who decided we have to give up pure and wholesome things just to grow up? Sleeping with a little Pikachu plushie does not mean I don’t also make my own doctor appointments.
reblogging because I think there needs to be more notes and more people comfortable with the idea that adulthood is a lie.
when i watch other people my age, i see that they have this kind of effortless way about them that i don’t think i’ll ever have. the way they talk to each other and the way they go out and pursue what interests them without having to think twice about it. the way they know how to conduct themselves, the way it all comes so naturally to them, like breathing or swimming or riding a bike. it’s like they all have something ingrained in them that i just don’t have, and it’s so embarrassing and it’s fucking killing me. i wish i knew how to be okay.
How do neurotypicals not have a set spot at their table? How can they sit in different spots every time??? How??? It feels so wrong and uncomfortable!!
That ain’t it chief. I’m sure some of you guys have seen profiles like this before. Parents invading their childs privacy and posting pictures/videos of their child displaying symptoms only to brag about how hard their life is and to fish for comments of praise from others. Also parents of neurodivergent children who advocate for organisations like Autism Speaks, either they haven’t done their research or they have and believe that their child needs to be cured which of course is wrong on so many levels. Ain’t it chief.
Common myth: “neurotypicals don’t stim”. This is actually false. Neurotypical people do stim, it’s just usually in a slightly different way. Common stims that you might notice a neurotypical doing include: nail biting, hair twirling, leg bouncing, foot tapping, pen biting, skin picking, knuckle cracking and more. These are stims that go unnoticed most of the time because they are so common. Autistic people’s stims are usually more noticeable. Stims you might see autistic people doing include: hand flapping, rocking, echolalia (repeating words or phrases), head banging, excessive blinking, spinning in circles and more. Stimming is not an exclusive autism trait. It’s the short term for “self-stimulatory behaviours” which every human being does in one way or another. It’s a completely normal way of regulating emotions. I’ve seen some people saying “neurotypicals don’t stim, they fidget” but fidgeting is actually a form of stimming.
The reasons why a neurotypical stims is usually different to why an autistic person does, however, the reasons can be the same. Stimming can help in stressful situations where anxiety levels are high. You’re more likely to notice a neurotypical person stimming when they are particularly anxious, for example in an exam or a job interview. Autistic people stim as a way of expressing emotions, for example we will stim when we are happy or excited, not just when we are anxious. Autistic people frequently experience sensory overloads and stimming helps to calm us down.
I find it ironic and hypocritical when neurotypicals make fun of autistics for stimming when they literally stim too. My parents will comment on my stimming when my mum is sat there biting her nails and my dad is bouncing his leg and picking his skin. How are my stims wrong and their stims right? Before you judge an autistic person for stimming take a look at yourself because I can guarantee you stim in one way or another. Let’s normalise and embrace stimming because not only is it beautiful, it’s incredibly important. Suppressing stims can be detrimental to our mental health.
Embrace the stim! No matter how big or small! All stims are valid!!
Happy Autism Acceptance Week to all my amazing fellow autistic friends!! ❤️❤️❤️
Autistic people are underappreciated, undervalued and underestimated members of society. We are treated as if there is something wrong with us, we are told we need to be “cured”, we are discriminated against and bullied for the way our brains are wired. We don’t just deserve awareness, we deserve acceptance. Life for autistic people will never change unless we are accepted and appreciated in society for the amazingly wonderful people we are. We deserve more than just awareness!!!
My mum wrote an article for the charity Aspens on how their support has helped our family immensely over the past few years of getting my diagnosis. It’s a nice read if anyone is interested! Especially for all the families out there with autistic family members, it is vital support is given so that the whole family can thrive. Autistic people are amazing and families need the knowledge to know how to support us so we can live our best lives! My mum is now working for the charity Aspens and is using her knowledge from helping me to help other young autistic people! ❤️
(Picture descriptions: The first picture is of me and my mum sitting next to each other on the sofa. We are holding our dogs Lily and Grace. I am wearing my Grogu Oodie and my mum is wearing a flowery top. We are both looking at the camera smiling. The second picture is of me on my own in the same Oodie holding my dog Grace, I am sitting on the sofa and looking at the camera smiling. )
I’m getting pretty sick and tired of having to defend my right to exist to neurotypicals. Why as autistic people do we constantly have to explain why we shouldn’t be cured or why we shouldn’t be eradicated. It’s so fucked up, we are human beings and have the same rights as any other person on this planet. If you are neurotypical and support curing autism, please just consider how that makes us autistic people feel. It’s so incredibly hurtful and scary to think that our rights to exist are being demolished.
Now I’m 18 I’ve been referred to adult mental health services and surprise surprise they’re trying to use autism as an excuse not to offer me any therapy. Their exact words were: “we are not autism specialists so there’s not much we can offer you.” I said to them, when did I say anything about wanting autism support?? I have support from the charity Aspens for any autism related issues. All I want is therapy to help with my depression, anxiety and eupd. I’m on a tonne of medication to keep my moods under control but as we all know medication is only one part and not a cure, you need therapy to go along side medication. So far adult services have been absolutely shit, even worse than camhs and I didn’t think that was possible!! I can’t afford to go private for therapy so all I can do is keep fighting for myself and try to get adult services to listen. It should NOT be this hard to access mental health support in England. Something seriously needs to change.
some of you may’ve heard about that fancy “bionic reading” typefont thats supposed to be easier for neurodivergent people to read (if you’re unfamiliar, it bolds the first few letters of each word to make it easier to follow)
well guess what, its locked behind a $500 a month API to write in because fuck you!
introducing, Not Bionic Reading! it is literally just the bionic reading typefont but for free. god bless neocities
[Image ID: Screenshot of tweet by Haley Moss (@/haleymossart):
Autism on TV: I’m a human supercomputer, solving the world’s most complex mathematical and technological mysteries
Autism in real life: I need to mentally rehearse making a phone call to a customer service rep for the thousandth time and then I want quiet for the rest of the day
If i may expand upon this, as another autistic person: yeah. This is literally it. Everyone always gets sad when i mention that i only know the names of four of my ckassmates. They dont understand that that is purely because i only learn the names of people that i either absolutely have to, or find interesting. I am happy with my four friends and my ambivalence towards everyone else.
Everyone also assumes ambition in life. And we hile i do have an aspiration, its not all that grand. I do have an ideal job, but failing that, anything will do. I simply want to have enough to get by. I want enough money to be able to comfortably afford a small apartment, and have enough left over to buy furniture with good texture, food with a good taste, and a stable wifi connection.
If i have that and 3 close friends i can be happy for the rest of my days.
I would likely leave my house for groceries, work, and to see those 3 friends. Maybe a love life would come into play at some point, maybe not.
And no neurotypical i have met seems to comprehend how i could be happy with a life like that.
One of the really, really frustrating things about being autistic is that you feel like you spend your life trying to reach some sort of unattainable middle-ground:
- We’re criticised for not making enough conversation, but when we do actually really get in to a conversation we are told we’re ‘too intense’.
- We’re often trained to maintain unbroken eye-contact during conversations, yet in reality too much eye-contact is called ‘staring’ and makes people very, veryuncomfortable.
- We’re encouraged to ‘express’ ourselves more, yet our actual, genuine emotional reactions are usually deemed ‘innapropiate’ or ‘unnescessary’.
- We’re told to be friendly and confident when approaching new people, but are then warned that we ‘come off too strong’.
- We are told to try and make interesting conversation, but are also taught that speaking about our interests will only ever annoy other people.
- We’re asked to explain our difficulties and anxieties, only to be told that these explanations ‘make no sense’ or that our worries are unrealistic and invalid.
- We’re expected to force ourselves in to social situations that feel overwhelming and draining yet still somehow remain friendly, good-tempered and pleasantly sociable.
- We are encouraged to develop good self-esteem, while at the exact same time being taught that everything about us is wrong.
I don’t hate having autism - I’ve never hated having autism. But I do hate living with the never-ending pressure to attain this mythological ‘perfect’ level of social interaction that simply doesn’t exist in my case.
-We are told to use coping mechanism when we need them, but when we implement them we’re told to stop, act appropriately, and push through the situation “normally”.
- We’re told to pursue our creative passions, because according to diagnostic stereotypes we’re not supposed to have them, but when we prove adept and imaginative at making art, we’re dismissed as having unreasonable fixations, escapist tendencies, and wasting our time on producing content that has no value in capitalist terms. And even if we do make some money off our creative pursuits—unless we’re one of the infinitesimal percentage of creators who make millions—we’re told it’s not and never will be a real job.
…this is so depressingly true that I’m going to sit here, read it again, and pout autistically for a while. Until my ADHD brain sees something shinier.
I mean… I try so hard and get so far, but in the end it doesn’t really matter… and if I said anything more I’d be a whole Linkin Park song. But I try, I really do. It just doesn’t work out unless the people I’m interacting with are either part of a neurotribe or at least understand the issues.
Recently a couple of the autistic kids I work with have inspired me with openly, unapologetically owning it.
Like one kid saying “if I don’t make eye contact it’s because I find that hard and it’s easier to concentrate on what you’re saying if I’m not looking at you.”
And another one asking for clarification of an ambiguous statement to check understanding instead of just hoping for the best.
And one saying “I’m going to stim now, this conversation is hard”
I have so much respect for them for being able to voice those things! It’s inspired me to try harder to do that instead of masking until I meltdown because I’m so scared of how people will react.
This is what I wanted to be in the 80s and 90s and people would pull me aside to tell me it was inappropriate.
It was revealed that 90% of autistics have trauma from repressed stims, not to mention those who were put through ABA.
If we can start to raise more and more autistic kids who are openly, unapologetically autistic, think about how powerful that would be for our future.
