Rhi at Autnot recently wrote a wonderful post about the need for accessibility of autism services. Along with the parts about being terrible at contacting people and balancing energy, these sentences in particular resonated with me and made me want to cry because I felt so understood and that's been such a rare feeling for me throughout … Continue reading Reasonable Accommodations?
emotions
Truth, Emotions, and Potential Evaluation Outcomes
To prepare for my evaluation I had spent nearly two months searching through my memories, talking to people from my past, and writing things down. Mostly I was looking through the lens of likely being Autistic, but I was aware that there could potentially be another explanation that I hadn't considered or didn't know about. … Continue reading Truth, Emotions, and Potential Evaluation Outcomes
Body Language – When the Knowledge Doesn’t Transfer
Sometimes I say, rather hyperbolically, that I didn't know about non-verbal communication until I was nearly 29 years old. It's a nice sound-bite, but like most nice sound-bites, it's not strictly true. I did know about some types of non-verbal communication before then. I knew that shrugging meant "I don't know." I knew that nodding meant … Continue reading Body Language – When the Knowledge Doesn’t Transfer
Grieving
Content warning - death (both people and pets), grieving, depression; passing mention (no details) of being spanked/hit as a child This year, 2016, has been a particularly rough one for many people. More than a few beloved celebrities have died and many folks I know, including myself, have lost loved ones who were much closer … Continue reading Grieving
My Children’s Role
Content warning: pregnancy loss/miscarriage, no explicit details given Having children played an instrumental role in my awareness of autism. Many parents discover that they're Autistic after a child or children are diagnosed, but in my case, the reverse was true. It was brought to my attention and I suspected it of myself before my child was diagnosed. … Continue reading My Children’s Role
Disclaimers
Image description: Photo of Spock on the bridge of the Enterprise with the quote, "If I seem insensitive to what you're going through, Captain, understand: it's the way I am." ~Spock, Star Trek "The Enemy Within" As I was reminded by a good friend the other day, disclaimers can be a powerful way to address misconceptions and difficulties … Continue reading Disclaimers
Controlling?
Moving on to elaborate about the "controlling person" bit that was briefly introduced in last Saturday's post, from my journaling ~4 years ago: The accusation that I was controlling has always baffled me. More than a couple of people have had that opinion and yet... in order to be controlling, one would actually need to … Continue reading Controlling?
Rambling Thoughts
I had many rambling thoughts immediately after reading Aspergirls. I was looking at my entire life from a completely different perspective and continued journaling about a few *memories that now made infinitely more sense in light of being Autistic: My favorite number is 3, my second favorite is 6. My favorite multiplication problem is therefore 6x6 … Continue reading Rambling Thoughts
I Have Time
There's time. My words aren't going anywhere. I don't need to capture each one, frantically. They will still be here. I don't need to make up for those years, long ago tears. I can allow myself to catch up, it cannot happen in one thrill. Gradually let them unfold, the stories untold. All meant to be written, … Continue reading I Have Time
Representation – A Book About Me!
About 20 days after my first journal entry so many years ago, I wrote more. This was the day after I received my copy of Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome by Rudy Simone. Hooray for ordering books online! So, I finished reading Aspergirls before 2pm today. Pretty much read it non-stop from the minute I picked … Continue reading Representation – A Book About Me!
Mamautistic 