NeurobeautifulIf your son is autistic, have you considered that your daughter might be too?
Autism often looks different in girls, and can be extra hard to notice if you’ve mostly learned about it through a boy. So, how can you spot an autistic girl?
Notice if she’s unusually passionate about certain activities or topics – …
Why do some #ActuallyAutistic advocates make a “big deal” about “little things” like colors, symbols, and terms?
Because those things are like a canary in a coal mine.
A person or organization who isn’t willing to budge on words or images is more likely to resist autistic input on bigger issues, too. If they aren’t …
When someone teaches me a new process, I usually ask them to go slow. Historically, this has helped me to stay calm amid an onslaught of new information.
Today, however, I learned that speed is not the issue. What my brain actually needs is a pause at every transition, and the right to decide when …
Technically, I don’t have synesthesia. But my brain does something similar, with extra steps.
Each letter in the alphabet makes me feel a certain way. It’s sort of like an aura, but felt instead of seen. Colors also have auras – an emotional experience on top of a sensory experience. And a letter can feel …
Anyone who sees me only in a group setting will tell you I’m the happiest person they’ve ever met. They may be correct, but for the wrong reasons.
It’s true that I have a deep-seated contentment, rooted in reflection. My day-to-day emotions range from euphoria to defeat, and everything in between, but the overall narrative …
Do you procrastinate? If so, what helps?
“Procrastination” is an outer behavior, not an inner experience. So when I try to follow anti-procrastination tips from someone whose mind is very different from mine, it’s less likely to help. On the other hand, I’ve learned a lot from people like me – neurodivergent folks who struggle …
Students who don’t follow directions give me so much strength.
When a student seems to be ignoring what I’ve asked them to do, my outer response is very different from my inner response. My outer response is: Confirm that they heard me. Break it down into smaller steps. Present the steps visually, or in writing. …
Many autistics despise being called robots, because it falsely implies that we lack emotion, empathy, and even humanity. Seriously, never compare someone to a robot unless they’ve already done so themselves.
That being said, there are also autistics who feel warmly about robots, and see them as a useful metaphor for our differences. I am …