I have found that there's this idea in modern parenting that leads to a great deal of what I'd call "unnecessary consistencies." The idea is basically that if children do something childish or inappropriate then they'll forever be doing it. Or, conversely, that if they aren't doing something that will eventually become necessary for them … Continue reading Vital Inconsistencies – Autistic Parenting
communication
Preformed Performing
Reflections on my life and activism after re-reading "Clinically Significant Disturbance: On Theorists Who Theorize Theory of Mind" and being so tired & wordless lately. I have been a painfully honest person performing a preformed lie. Obsessed with accuracy in every other area of life, I still found myself trying to blend in. Trying to … Continue reading Preformed Performing
Dental Emergency
CW: dentist visit, tooth issues - nothing described in detail. I have a thing about teeth. One of my biggest fears has always been my teeth falling out. Unfortunately for me, I have really terrible teeth along with awful sensory issues surrounding toothbrushing. We also haven't had any money or insurance coverage to see dentists … Continue reading Dental Emergency
Ableism and the War on Drugs
CW: police misconduct, the war on drugs, racism. I've been upset and dismayed, but not surprised, over the last few days as reports of the police officer mistreating Connor Leibel have shown up all over my social media feeds. As someone who has extensively studied the history and sociology of drug use and prohibition, I believe … Continue reading Ableism and the War on Drugs
Autism Parent Meeting – Tragedy, Mourning, and Divorce
I'm finally pulling my thoughts together a bit more regarding the Autism Parent Meeting I attended a while back. CW: Ableism, autism parents (usually non-Autistic parents of Autistic children who tend towards wanting to "fix" their children), tragedy rhetoric, temporary abandonment, and verbal abuse. The narrative, over all, was one of tragedy and upset. Many … Continue reading Autism Parent Meeting – Tragedy, Mourning, and Divorce
One Year of Blogging
I completely missed the actual day of my diagnosis anniversary earlier this month 😦 But today is the anniversary of when I started blogging here! This is going to be a recap of the year type of post, I think, looking at my life post-diagnosis. Being part of the online Autistic Community has helped my … Continue reading One Year of Blogging
Representation – Atypical Part 1
Representation is important. Accurate representation, whether in fiction or nonfiction, can make a huge positive difference in how members of minority groups are viewed and treated by members of the majority group and can also be an empowering experience for those people who rarely see ourselves in the media. That all said, yesterday I made … Continue reading Representation – Atypical Part 1
But You’re High Functioning
There are so many posts and articles written by Autistics about how utterly wrong "functioning labels" are. How inaccurate. Why we generally don't like them. Responding with a functioning label-based observation is such a pervasive response from allistics (non-Autistics) that I think nearly every Autistic writer ends up addressing that nonsense sooner or later. I … Continue reading But You’re High Functioning
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
Flashback Friday – Depression
TW: depression, eating disorder, self-harm, sexual assault (very brief mention), and suicidal thoughts/actions. CW: Higher education, therapy. My first official psychological diagnosis was Major Depression nearly 15 years ago. I was in college and, although I'd been extremely excited about attending college at first, my experience had rapidly gone downhill ever since I'd first arrived … Continue reading Flashback Friday – Depression