NeurobeautifulOne of my deepest desires is to help autistic and non-autistic people understand one another better.
Most of the time, I try to do this directly, by sharing my own perspective and experiences. But today I hope to help facilitate it indirectly, by sharing some tips to have better, kinder, more enlightening conversations with someone …
“You are so cute!”
My boyfriend said this as I was telling him about something exciting, and expressing my excitement in a particularly autistic way – tilting my head, bending my wrists, hiding behind my hands – letting myself move in ways I often resist around others.
It amazed me, as it always does, that …
“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 …
Autistics never “overreact.” If you see us react strongly to something, it usually means that we do feel that strongly about it.
A child who sounds like they’re plummeting to the depths of despair? They may literally feel that way.
A teenager who won’t budge when ordered to do something? They may literally be paralyzed …
I’ve written about how it can be challenging, and sometimes damaging, to camouflage autistic traits. But I want to clarify something.
Autistic camouflaging isn’t evil. It’s a language – a way to communicate.
Yes, it can feel stressful and unnatural to speak a new language. It requires extra concentration, and it’s easy to make mistakes. …
When I read advice for autistics, I notice that it’s often worded differently than the same advice for other people.
The rest of the world shares “life hacks” for “productivity.” Autistics share “coping strategies” for “executive functioning.”
Some examples:
“Tackle a big task by breaking it down into small parts” vs. “Make a checklist of …