Tag: autism
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‘Autistic’ is Not Synonymous with ‘Distress’
‘Autistic’ is not synonymous with ‘distress’. Being Autistic does not cause meltdowns, anxiety, or trauma. Usually we are described by how we are “affected by autism” but what we are actually being affected by is the environments we are in and the lack of support we receive. Meltdowns can occur in environments not designed for…
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Build Boundaries, not Resilience
There’s a common saying by professionals that children need to “build resilience” in order to cope in the world. When there appears to be progress for an Autistic child in school after receiving access to supports and adjustments, the mindset of professionals is to begin removing these supports to ‘increase independence’. Fading these supports only…
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Striving for a Better World
As we move into a new year, let’s make further steps towards creating a world where Autistic and other Neurodivergent people are valued as being part of human diversity rather than a pathology to fix. To embrace deviations from neuronormativity rather than to treat them as broken or sick. A world that identifies our experiences…
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An Autistic Shutdown
Earlier this year I was part of a team to set up a celebration event for a charity that invited hundreds of guests. The venue featured family friendly activities at the outside area with space indoors to get drinks and breaks. Most of the morning was spent on us putting down signs to direct people…
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Autistic Joy
When people think of ‘autism’ or Autistic people, there’s one word that likely comes to mind: distress. We have been viewed as people who have a ‘disorder’ or ‘deficits’ in communication and interactions, per the outdated claims of the diagnostic criteria. Many clinicians will only diagnose Autistic people who are displaying or experiencing some kind…
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Embrace Autistic Culture
Culture is not something that tends to be associated with Autistic people. We have been pathologised and dehumanised since groups of Autistic people were first recognised over a hundred years ago. Our society is still rooted in the pathology paradigm which views Autistic people as being disordered or that we need parents and non-autistic people…
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Being in an Autistic Space
Living in a neurotypical dominant world is a very complicated experience for Autistic people. It is one which also unfortunately inflicts a great deal of trauma on us. The world is filled with unspoken rules that we are apparently missing the book of. There are social norms that aren’t compatible with our neurology. I remember…
Autistically Scott 