It occurred to me, after writing my previous post about autistic friends, that I might have made all autistic friendships seem overly simple and easy to navigate. In reality, of course, there are still potential missteps when being friends with and conversing with other autistics - even good long-term autistic friends. We're human and certainly … Continue reading Navigating a Minefield vs Strolling Through the Woods
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My Autistic Friends
Happy discount chocolate day! These are my thoughts about my lovely autistic friends and how much I value their friendships. In some ways it's a love letter, but more than that it's full of gratitude and other deep feelings that I cannot quite label with emotion names right now. Maybe someday 🙂 Spending time with other … Continue reading My Autistic Friends
Autistic Disclosure
Telling people I'm autistic is something that I've definitely gotten better at doing since last August when I received my official diagnosis. I've been extremely open about being autistic in my local writing community and haven't hesitated to tell people who know me well in real life aside from a few family members whom I … Continue reading Autistic Disclosure
Anonymous Writing and A New Name
It's no secret that I blog anonymously. That decision is not one that I've made lightly. I've given it a great deal of thought and I believe that, for now, I will continue being anonymous here. In order to better facilitate my online interactions and remain anonymous, I've come up with a pen name that … Continue reading Anonymous Writing and A New Name
Betrayal, Lies, and Dependence; one year later
For the last few weeks I've been struggling with  many things. Struggling isn't unusual, of course. I think that everyone who's autistic is well acquainted with struggling often in everyday situations. But the intensity of my recent struggles has been beyond that which I'm accustomed to dealing with. I'd go so far as to call … Continue reading Betrayal, Lies, and Dependence; one year later
Volunteering
Over the years I've tried to pay attention to my ability to do various things. However, I don't always manage to notice the relevant patterns until I've ended up in (multiple) difficult and/or embarrassing situations. Volunteering was one of the patternless things in my life until this month. From the time I was 12 years old, … Continue reading Volunteering
Parenting While Autistic – Kids’ Sports
I was reminded, while catching up with The Silent Wave's blog today, that I will soon be gearing up for a new sports-season with one of my children, whom I will refer to as "sporty-child" for this post, which is primarily about me, not them. I'm going to be extremely vague about said sport in … Continue reading Parenting While Autistic – Kids’ Sports
Being Misunderstood and Mutism
Image description: Background is blue/white/grey ice crystals with the overlaying text reading, "Misunderstandings were constant, I could not get away. I pored over the dictionary to decide what to say. Unfairly, although we used the same words, We weren't speaking the same language, their meanings unheard, my meanings incorrectly inferred. ~Mamautistic, 2016" Being misunderstood is … Continue reading Being Misunderstood and Mutism
When the Unexpected Happens at the Dentist
CW: Dental work discussed in passing after the first paragraph. Medical professional belittling a patient mentioned briefly, as well. Sometimes the unexpected is enough to cause a complete melt down or shut down. Other times, it can be okay. It seems to primarily depend on how unknown the unexpected event is to me, how it's handled by … Continue reading When the Unexpected Happens at the Dentist
Words & What They Mean – Perseverate vs Rhapsodize
I've been thinking a fair amount about the meanings of words since last night's #AutBurnout chat. One of the questions was about whether we use the term "special interests" or a different one. My response was: I prefer "focused" to "special" = focused interest, current focus, or current topic(s) of interest are all terms I … Continue reading Words & What They Mean – Perseverate vs Rhapsodize
Mamautistic 