NeurobeautifulMy idea of a perfect moment is one that stimulates all of my senses at once – but gently, without surprises. A perfect balance is nearly impossible to plan, but occasionally it just happens.
My favorite example is sitting by a crackling fire, squished between friends on a couch, sipping hot tea, with someone softly …
Not all autistics are oblivious to body language. I’m not.
I can tell exactly when a raised eyebrow means I’ve done something odd, a startled glance means I’ve spoken in an irregular rhythm, or a confused look means I’ve spouted too many ideas with too little context.
But I rarely know what to do about …
There were a lot of things I didn’t realize as a teenager.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault. There simply wasn’t enough awareness about autism – true awareness from actual autistics. There’s more now, but still not enough, and I’m trying to help change that.
As a teenager, I didn’t realize how large the gap was between …
Two years ago, I was diagnosed as autistic. It seemed to explain all the mysteries of my life, and it helped me find better words to describe my experiences. Since then, many parents have told me that my writing helps them understand their kids better.
On the one hand, this encourages me a lot. Understanding …
My grocery store has new shopping carts! They go smoothly and silently around corners, like a mermaid swishing and swiveling through a maze of coral.
When something gets easier on a sensory level, it gets easier on an intellectual level too. I made all my decisions much faster without the distraction of forceful turns and …
For 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: