NeurobeautifulThe gym class instructor pauses after explaining a move. “Is anyone confused?” he asks.
Silence all around. He turns to me. “Are you sure? You’re staring at me with such intensity!”
I’m instantly reminded of Jane Eyre, my favorite Victorian heroine, “who always looked as if she were watching everybody, and scheming plots underhand.”
Without …
“Your blood pressure is higher than last time,” said the doctor.
“That’s because you were asking me questions as you tested it,” I answered, “and multitasking is stressful. Can you try again?”
She retested it, this time in silence except for instructions about the testing. My blood pressure was fine.
That appointment broke a myth …
Don’t spank your kids. Please, just don’t.
My parents were extra careful to remind me that they loved me, and that spanking always made them very sad. However, because they didn’t know about my autism, they didn’t realize two important things.
First, everything hurts worse when your senses are heightened. Imagine the feeling of a …
Autistic inertia is a real thing. I’ve never met an autistic person who doesn’t experience it.
What is inertia? A natural drive to continue.
What does it look like in practice? That varies from person to person, but here are some examples.
It’s more interesting to continue learning about one topic, and explore its nuances …
“Let me finish!”
I hear this a lot from autistics, whenever an interruption threatens to derail our train of thought.
I hear it a lot from non-autistics too, but the tone is very different.
Autistics say it out of desperation, begging for permission to rescue the ideas quickly slipping from our minds.
Non-autistics, on the …
In the movie Tangled, a baby princess sees an emblem in her nursery before being kidnapped. Growing up, she recreates that emblem all over her prison tower, unaware that it represents royalty. When she finally learns its meaning, it causes her to realize that she is the long-lost princess.
Autism is my royalty. Its traits, …
Yesterday, a friend complimented my ability to build healthy relationships by clearly communicating my boundaries, expectations, and wishes – and asking others for theirs in return.
I thanked her, but also laughed, saying that I only have this ability because I’m compensating for my disability. The reason I try so hard to establish clarity is …