Being upset when someone sits in "our" chair or takes "our" spot is an Autistic reaction that has moved from stereotype to joke. It's a bad joke because it's making fun of something that's often involuntary and extremely distressing to many of us. I realize that it can appear that we're overreacting to those who only see … Continue reading You’re In My Spot
discomfort
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
Barefooting
Barefooting is one of my greatest joys in life. One of my favorite things! To me, bare feet are liberated feet. I can easily walk either on my toes or toe-first, which are delightful ways for me to walk. I love to feel the dirt, carpet, grass, sand, etc underneath my feet. Such a different feeling … Continue reading Barefooting
An Unexpected April Disclosure
In my defense, I thought I could handle it. I firmly believe that we should not need to disclose our Autistic status in order to be taken seriously when we pass along the words of other Autistics. So, I reasoned, I'd post things for April and just elevate other Autistic voices. It seemed like a great … Continue reading An Unexpected April Disclosure
(Mis)Understanding and Responsibility
Learning that I was Autistic was a daunting, overwhelming thing. On the one hand, it explained everything. Learning that I'm Autistic has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. But, on the other hand, it's overwhelming and discouraging to think about how allistics (non-Autistics) will likely never understand and will … Continue reading (Mis)Understanding and Responsibility
Internet Ads and Accessibility
In the Twitter #autchat discussion about social media accessibility this week, a topic came up that has been bothering me quite a bit lately. The issue is one of internet ads and the websites that now detect AdBlock and require that the program be turned off (i.e. the website be whitelisted) before anyone can access their … Continue reading Internet Ads and Accessibility
Messing Up Such a Simple Thing
Sometimes I'll be going along, doing fairly well, and then I'll mess up again. In a big way. Patterns in my life often emerge from new situations and experiences because they aren't really new. These are things that have been happening my entire life, but that I never had the ability to describe or explain … Continue reading Messing Up Such a Simple Thing
Flashback Friday – Undergarments
TW: Puberty stuff, body image issues, misunderstanding. Underwear has always been a difficult topic for me. It's not the wearing of it that's most problematic, in my case. Rather, the things I find most difficult are other people's attitudes and expectations about underwear. Especially when they want to have a conversation with me about those … Continue reading Flashback Friday – Undergarments
Dentist Follow-Up
I have been to the dentist around 5 times since I sent them my disclosure letter because my teeth were in very bad shape. An excellent autistic-written dentist post I came across earlier today reminded me that it's probably time for a follow-up to write about what's happened since I sent that letter. The people at the dentist's … Continue reading Dentist Follow-Up
Grocery Store Meltdown
This is a long post. Most of it was written the morning after the incident that precipitated my meltdown. It is now several days since that happened, but I'm keeping the wording mostly the same. My meltdowns seem to be getting rarer and rarer as I get older (a good thing!), so I won't have as … Continue reading Grocery Store Meltdown
Mamautistic 