NeurobeautifulFor most of my life, all I knew about autism was that it’s a disability that sometimes causes kids to rock back and forth.
I learned most of that from a bumper sticker, which said: “My autistic kid rocks – colloquially and kinesthetically!”
That was accurate, but incomplete. I wish I’d also known that:
Autistic brains are beautiful.
Not only from the outside looking in, but also from the inside looking out.
We see a world full of intense complexity.
Brimming with beauty.
It can be overwhelming sometimes, to take in the beautiful and the bothersome, the glorious and the grating, the deeply exhilarating and the downright exhausting.
All. …
Being autistic reminds me of a typical fantasy novel.
It begins with a young girl who doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the village. There’s something special about her, and at first she can only see the trouble that it causes.
Then one day, she learns the reason. She is different, perhaps secretly …
The more we learn about autistic neurology, the more we can see how beautiful our brains are. And the more we learn what our brains need to thrive, the more beautiful our lives will become.
Seeing beauty, creating beauty – both of these get easier the more we understand ourselves.
Stories of autistic experiences are …
Diversity matters in media, because it’s important for everyone to see that someone like them can be victorious and loved.
With neurodiversity in particular, that doesn’t have to mean labeling characters as autistic. For me, what matters is seeing characters who act and think like me.
Jane Eyre was the first. I read that book …
A Thanksgiving Blessing:
May you find safe and happy corners in the midst of any crowd, full of interesting conversation on your favorite topics.
May you find ways that are comfortable for you to be helpful in the kitchen, with straightforward and precise instructions.
May you find, among the feast spread before you, food whose …
I can’t think of any situation where it’s helpful to use the word “obvious.”
The problem is that it implies universal understanding. If I happen to not understand a thing that someone else says is “obvious,” it can feel very disheartening.
Instead of “This fact is obvious,” I prefer to hear, “I can tell that …