I was introduced to Torey Hayden's books in college by my Freshman year Foundations of Education professor. Her book, One Child, was required reading at some point or another during that year. The class was a year-long class and at the time I was a music education (double) major. I loved that education class, aside from … Continue reading Relating to Torey Hayden’s Books
childhood
“Needing Structure” — What Does That Mean?
Re: Autistic people (especially children) and structure -- Based on my own experiences and those of other Autistic people with whom I've conversed about this issue, it's not usually structure or schedules, per se (on their own), that help us the most. Yet predictability can be an important support for us, especially when we're children. … Continue reading “Needing Structure” — What Does That Mean?
Some #ActuallyAutistic Advice for #ElmoMum
An #ElmoMum elaboration in three short parts. Part the first: Background Part the second: Context Part the third: Advice (with swearing) [You are here.] 3 - Advice (with swearing) Disclaimer: This is general advice and is far from a complete list. Most of it comes down to treating your child like a fully functioning Autistic … Continue reading Some #ActuallyAutistic Advice for #ElmoMum
Gender and Pronouns
I'm non-binary agender. Sometimes I joke (in a not really joking way) that my gender is "Autistic" and that feels about right. Part of my mind is still good with "female" or "demi-girl" because they're somewhat familiar. I don't feel upset by she/her pronouns either -- familiarity goes a long way for me. The only … Continue reading Gender and Pronouns
Flashback Friday – Plush Animals in Public
I've already written about how I lost my Pound Puppy (named Pound Puppy) as a teen and replaced him with another stuffed dog last year. Today, as I've recently been contemplating carrying my new stuffed dog to stressful dentist appointments, some memories of past public carrying have surfaced and are ready to be written about. … Continue reading Flashback Friday – Plush Animals in Public
Autism and Disability
While taking a break from writing about that horrid autism parent meeting, I realized the other day that it took me until my 99th blog post here to use the word "disabled" or "disability" - so that's been on my mind and there's clearly some stuff to unpack there.. To begin with, I'm not one … Continue reading Autism and Disability
Societal and Parental Expectations
I want to start off by clarifying that I am in no way defending the societal or parental expectations I outline in this post. I find them to be abhorrent, in fact, but it occurred to me that there's not much written by Autistic parents about parenting theory, social expectations, and child development (aside from … Continue reading Societal and Parental Expectations
Flashback Friday – My Spinning Room
CW: internalized ableism, childhood experiences (both positive and negative) When I was in early elementary school we had just moved into a bigger house and there was a room without any furniture in it aside from a dining chair in one corner. I'd sit in that corner chair nearly every day after school because I'd … Continue reading Flashback Friday – My Spinning Room
Flashback Friday – Planning Everything
[image description: blue sky and cloud background. Text reads: "I picture myself running and my distress pursuing close behind. I will run at top speed if I'm around any other people, but eventually I get tired and the distress keeps getting bigger with longer legs until it can easily reach me. I try to ensure … Continue reading Flashback Friday – Planning Everything
Flashback Friday – 8 Year Old Hermit Plans
My highest aspiration, as an 8-year old, was to become a hermit when I grew up. Preferably on my own private island. My plans were never verbalized, that I remember. I had an image of myself living like Mary the vulture-lady in the Blossom Family books, picking up roadkill for soup and being all solitary … Continue reading Flashback Friday – 8 Year Old Hermit Plans
Mamautistic 