"Actually, It's Crooked": Autism and Precocious Speech

C.L. Bridge, "Actually, It's Crooked": Autism and Precocious Speech on the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network

"Actually, It's Crooked": Autism and Precocious Speech

When it was time for cake at my second birthday party, I sat at a table surrounded by smiling grown-ups. One of the grown-ups asked me a question. I don’t remember the question itself, but I remember my answer: “Actually, it’s crooked.” Actually and crooked were two of my favorite words as a toddler. Whether or not it really answered the question, my reply made every adult in the room laugh. I felt a little embarrassed.

My mom remembers people in the supermarket staring in surprise when they heard clear, complex sentences coming from a tiny child in a shopping cart seat. I remember wondering why other toddlers didn’t talk the way I did. I spoke fluently at twelve months old.

Around age three, I spontaneously started to read. This made most school work easy and opened my world to many wonderful stories, but my teachers weren’t sure what to do with a child who entered school already knowing how to read well. I was bored with phonics lessons. (Letting me work on new vocabulary instead of phonics may have been a good solution, but no one thought of that.) When I read aloud in class, the teacher often told me to slow down so the other children could keep up.

Fortunately, the psychologist who diagnosed me with autism realized that not all autistic children start speaking late; some start speaking early. Not all professionals seem to realize this. I have almost never seen precocious speech on “signs of autism” lists, which often focus only on delayed or absent speech. Is this because many people see autism as a collection of deficits, while talking early is considered a strength? Does it have anything to do with the huge influence of Autism Speaks, whose advertisements often show a narrow stereotype of a silent, somber child? A Google search for “autism and precocious speech” brought up almost nothing relevant. Even among the autistic community, I seldom notice any discussion of early speech.

I recently had a conversation about precocious speech with Lauren Smith-Donohoe. Both she and her daughter are autistic. However, because they both spoke earlier than typical children, it took them a long time to get a diagnosis. Lauren Smith-Donohoe expressed concern that most parents don’t realize precocious speech and reading come with their own set of challenges. Adults may unfairly expect precocious children to act older than they are, and advanced readers may be exposed to topics that are not appropriate for children.

I’ve noticed that parents and teachers sometimes think everything a precocious child enjoys has to challenge their brain, or it isn’t worthwhile. Even if a second grader can read on an eighth grade level, that doesn’t mean books written for eighth graders will be interesting or relevant to them. When I was seven, my mom threw a fit because my dad bought me a computer game I wanted, intended for age seven and under. I continued to enjoy the game for many years. Challenging your brain is important, but doing things just for fun is also important.

A child who sounds like a little adult is still a child. A big vocabulary does not equal emotional maturity—especially for someone with a developmental disability. My difficulties with social communication and emotional regulation were no less real than those of an autistic person who talked later than average. And knowing a lot of words definitely didn’t mean I knew how to put my feelings into words.

Perhaps “signs of autism” lists should say something like “May start speaking earlier than typical, later than typical, or not at all”. Such a statement would help people understand that there are many ways for autistic language to develop, and that early-talking autistic children do exist.

Autistic community, let’s talk about early speech. Were any of you precocious speakers or self-taught readers? Did talking or reading early make certain things easier or harder? Did adults expect you to act more grown-up than you really were? Has anyone ever said you “couldn’t be autistic” because you didn’t have a speech delay? I would love to hear from you.

Here’s the Thing About Language

Autisticeducator, Here’s the Thing About Language on Tumblr

Here's the Thing About Language

You can change labels of what you call people all you want “to be more people friendly” or whatever reason you claim to have.

But…

If you don’t change the social constructs behind the language, the factors limiting the group that is actually directly affected by the language, then changing the language becomes rather pointless because it doesn’t actually change any of the social issues behind it.

Take people first language (yes, I’m going to continuously be picking on people first language because it does such a good job at getting my point across). The abled bodied population was like “This sounds good, let’s use it for the entire disabled community.”

Yeah, except the autistics have been shouting “Um excuse me, but people first language dehumanizes us because it separates us from our identity. We want identity first language.”

And if those advocating for people first language (especially abled bodied parents and those in education) had ever stopped to deal with the social constructs that affect the autistic community instead of pushing on their language crusade, I wouldn’t be writing this post right now. But they didn’t.

And people first language is not harmless like they want to believe. I’ve personally had people first language used against me numerous times by people who did not want to acknowledge that I am autistic. People first makes it easier for people to deny us either our needs or our agency (or both) by allowing them to think “Oh they’re a person and I can just push this autism bit off to the side and ignore its exsistance.”

That’s why I am insistent on identity first language. I want to make it difficult to separate autism from myself because they are not separate entities. They are the same entity because I see and experience everything through an autistic lens. People who aren’t going to see me as a person won’t see me as one regardless of language used. It’s those who only want to see me as a person if autism isn’t coming along for the ride that I find really problematic.

Without Apology

Carolina Rutz, Without Apology on An Aspie in Kentukia

Content warnings for Misogyny, depersonalisation, ableism, as well as for religion (Christianity). 

Without Apology

To the Tattooed Bald Feminist on Facebook: Thank you.

I do not know who are you and where you are, but I figured that an open letter might reach you eventually in hopes that you read this with a open heart and with the hope that you are doing well.

I am an openly Autistic woman who have been deeply religious for over 30 years. I am a widow of a Lutheran pastor and I hold a consistent pro-life ethic that seeks solutions to the deeper problems of the human lifespan. We are different as day and night.

Yet… we have several things in common. First, we both have shaved heads and tattoos on our bodies. Second, we speak our minds. But most of all, we value self-expression. The right to express and present our personae as we see fit.

Florencia Ardon, Why do we teach our kids to "behave"? on Neuroamazing

Why do we teach our kids to “behave”?

Are you teaching your child to “behave” for their benefit? Or yours?

Some behaviors or characteristics of autistic people can be dangerous. Like not sensing danger, and just darting toward a busy street. Or leaning “too” forward on a banister, not recognizing one can actually fall. Some others can get them in danger or can endanger, say, priceless museum pieces. In that category I would put bumping hard into people, which could make the other person respond in anger and actually hit you. Or leaning against a showcase full of antique, glass works of art, in a way that could make them break.

But in many other cases, the behavior is not dangerous, probably makes the person happy, or helps them deal with anxiety. We don’t try to change that behavior for the wellbeing or safety of the autistic child. We do it for us. I participated yesterday in a survey that made this fairly clear. It contained some statements one had to agree or disagree with. Some of the statements read something like this: “We don’t go out in public because my child’s behavior embarrasses me.” “I have to constantly explain my child has autism because of his or her behaviors.”

[six second clip of young child in a snowsuit, sitting in the snow stomping feet and hands in a small tantrum]

This reminds me of the typical scene of a child throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of the supermarket. What many times happens is that the parent (normally the mother) is close to the child trying to control the situation, and looking around to see the reactions of the people around. If there is nobody around, or people just smile and go away, then that’s fine. But if people start lecturing the parent, looking at her disapprovingly, and so on, what can and does happen too often is that the child gets punished: spanked in some cases, yelled at, or carried out of the store while the child is trying to free themselves (which can be dangerous, by the way, depending on the agility and strength of the child). And this is the “approved parenting style” in our society.

One of the problems with this is that that societal approved parenting styleMR does not work (and by the by, “time outs” don’t work either). One response that works in the long run is to ignore the child, though how you do it matters… and note that here I’m considering we’re speaking about a temper tantrum, not a meltdown. For a meltdown, you need to know what caused it and what helps the child the most.

Now, if you do a quick search on YouTube, you will see videos shaming parents who are actively ignoring their kids… and also shaming parents who are physically punishing their children. Meaning, you are never free of criticism. Unless you never ever take your kid out into a public space.

The biggest problem is that you pay more attention to the feelings or to the approval of people you don’t know at all. You put their feelings well above your child’s. And you will never see these people again! They will gladly post a video of you and your child to happily shame you. And you’re supposed to love your child more than anything in the world, yet are more invested in gaining the stranger’s approval than in not harming your relationship with your child.

Is it worth it?

NO.

Just stop paying attention to the other people.

If your child is on the spectrum (or has ADHD or any of the other conditions that could lead to similar behaviors) the “embarrassing” behavior can happen when they are 2-3 years old like it happens with “neurotypical” kids, but it can also happen when they’re 6, or 9, or 12. So what?

Sure, that person is looking down on you. Sure, they’ll get home and you’ll be the dinner conversation. Sure, they’ll feel superior to you because that would never happen to them, because their child behaves. They are raising their child to obey, and respect their parents, not like these new age/hippie/millennials/whatever parents who don’t know how to properly raise a child. They don’t know you, don’t know your story, don’t know what you’ve tried or not, what has worked and what has backfired. How much you slept last night or if you slept at all.

And they don’t care.

You. Should. Not. Care. Either.

Let them think whatever they want. Let them speak about you. You don’t know them and you would not want to be their friend anyway.

Care for your child. Your child is the one waiting for you at home. Is the one having dinner with you. And the one you hug in the mornings, and kiss good night when they go to sleep.

The rest of the world is out there, outside your home, and does not matter.

To My Preteen Self on Autistics Speaking Day

C.L. Bridge, To My Preteen Self on Autistics Speaking Day on the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network


To My Preteen Self

Hello from the future! There are so many things I want to tell you. But first, I suppose I should explain what Autistics Speaking Day is, and why I chose to write to you on this day. For you, it’s 2003. Autistics Speaking Day won’t exist until 2010, but it is a day when autistic people share their thoughts and stories, and make their voices heard.

I know it’s hard for you to make your voice heard. Sometimes you can’t find the words to say what you need or how you feel. Sometimes you know the words but can’t get them out. Sometimes you end up saying things you don’t mean. And even when the words do come out right, people don’t always listen.

Sometimes you hide your joy, sadness and fear behind anger, without even realizing that is what you are doing. You’ve been called a crybaby. You’ve been told that your expressions of joy make you look weird. That’s why sometimes, when you want to say something sweet, it comes out as sarcasm. It’s why sometimes, when you want to hug someone, you pull away instead. I wish I could show you the movie Inside Out, because you would enjoy it, and it would help you understand yourself better. But it won’t come out until you’re in college.

Yes, you will go to college. No, college isn’t all about sleepless nights and ten page papers, despite what you may believe now. In community college you won’t fit in with most of your classmates, but you will like most of your professors and most of your classes. When you move on to university, you will finally find your people. You will have fun, learn a lot, create things, overcome many challenges… and you will do it all surrounded by friends who love you.

But let’s get back to feelings and autism. I want you to know that your feelings and preferences are okay, even when others don’t think so. You don’t have to stay at a sleepover party you aren’t enjoying, even if your friend is the birthday girl. Liking Pokémon is not babyish, even though some of your peers will take many years to realize that. And it’s okay that you have feelings and questions about your diagnosis.

“I am not autistic,” I hear you say. “Tony Attwood’s book says autistic people are great at math, but I’m no good at math! It says autistic people prefer nonfiction and are bored by fiction, but I’d much rather read a fairy tale than an encyclopedia. Worst of all, it says autistic people lack empathy. I care about others!”

That book will be outdated when you’re my age, and it isn’t completely accurate. Many autistic people enjoy fiction and struggle with math. We are totally capable of caring for others. Sometimes doctors and psychologists don’t understand us as well as they think they do. You are autistic, and that’s not a bad thing, even if some books and TV commercials make it sound like a bad thing.

Speaking of psychologists, hold on to yours. He’s on your side. I know you don’t think so right now, and it was unwise of your parents to avoid telling you why you were taken to see him. But he knows a thing or two about accepting differences. Your older self has discovered the hard way that many psychologists want to turn autistic people into someone we’re not. The psychologist who diagnosed you with autism will never try to turn you into someone you’re not. I wish you could find the words to ask him some of your autism questions.

I’d also advise you to leave your school before seventh grade. If you stay, you’ll be stuck in a classroom with much older kids who constantly get away with inappropriate behavior. They will not be a good example for you. You won’t learn much English, math, science, or history in that classroom either. You’ll learn more of that by teaching yourself at home.

You’ll learn those subjects in college too—and you’ll also learn how to play chess. The student who teaches you to play chess will become a wonderful friend. You’ll even learn to take care of marine mammals. Yes, marine mammals. I don’t want to spoil too much, but close encounters with large aquatic creatures are in your future.

One day, you will write a letter to an autism specialist because you believe the way this specialist describes girls like you is unfair. This letter, your first advocacy letter, will never be answered. However, you will keep writing letters about autism. Some people won’t answer, but some will. Some won’t understand, but some will. Some of these letters will make real changes, because the people who received them heard your voice and listened.

It’s Autistics Speaking Day. Your voice—our voice—is more powerful than you think.

Wishing you courage and hope,

Your twenty-five-year-old self

The Desexualization of Women with Disabilities Should Not Be an Unspoken Issue

Nicolette Cetrulo, The Desexualization of Women with Disabilities Should Not Be an Unspoken Issue from The Odyssey Online

The Desexualization of Women with Disabilities Should Not Be an Unspoken Issue

It may not sound like an issue, but it's more of an issue than you think.

When people think about feminism, one of the issues that tend to be brought up the most is how women tend to be oversexualized by the media and by others in their lives. Many minority women are often the targets of this over-sexualization, especially women of color and LGBTQ+ women. This issue is talked about so often that people tend to forget that there is an opposite end of the spectrum, and it is more of an issue than most people think. I'm of course talking about women with disabilities and how they tend to be desexualized rather than over-sexualized.

People would tend to think, "well, how is this an issue? Doesn't this technically mean that women with disabilities are seen as people first?" Well, that right there is the problem; they're not. In general, people with disabilities are not seen as people, they are seen as animals or weird mythical creatures that need to be changed in order to fit in with society, or at least, that was how I was seen for most of my life. This is why the desexualization of women with disabilities is just as much of an issue as over-sexualization of women is.

I have mentioned in a previous article that I am on the autism spectrum, so a lot of things that come naturally to other people don't come naturally to me (i.e. social skills and making friends). What I never mentioned was how others would often find me sexy, and once I tell them that I'm on the autism spectrum, they automatically don't think I'm sexy anymore. This was a kind of mindset that not only confused me but also made me feel worse about my autism than I already did. How could a disability be an automatic turn-off to a lot of people?

This has been part of the reason why I've been struggling with self-image issues since I was in middle school, and even more when I got my diagnosis a little bit later. While most of my self-image issues have always been more interior than exterior, it still has affected me terribly and I just wanted to feel beautiful in my own skin. When I was sixteen years old, I was given the opportunity to model at the Access Ridgewood Fashion Show and this was the first time to my memory where I felt hot.

I understand that on the surface, the desexualization of women with disabilities doesn't seem like a problem, but knowing how people with disabilities are treated in society, it is more of an issue than you think. This issue has been the reason why I've been struggling with my body and self-image for so long and why so many other women with disabilities have been struggling with body and self-image. If we stop belittling people down to their disabilities and treating them like human beings, the stigma against people with disabilities wanting to be sexy can end.

Life on the Spectrum

Sean Callaghan has submitted his blog Life on the Spectrum.

Sean has requested trigger warnings.

All materials on following the link has not been reviewed, so reader discretion is advised. At the very least, content warnings are in place for life story events.

From Life on the Spectrum, Chapter 4:  

At some point that summer I found out about the fact that I had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, suddenly all the pills and all the bizarre classroom and school switches began to make sense. This would become a liability in the coming year. I started Middle School around the first week of September 2001. We were the only class in session since the School District that the Intermediate Unit was leasing a school room from was on strike. But the IU staff was not on strike and so we had class, giving us a rather bizarre beginning to Middle School because most of the district kids were not there.  That was good on some level, since I did not initially have the problems I expected, having for some time been scared of Middle School and teenagers (I was a strong believer in the line “oh the hideous stench of teenagers,” as was heard in the first Power Rangers film).  You might think this odd since I was very close to being a teenager myself. Plus I had other issues; the teachers were brand new and had no more clue to what they were getting into than I did.

Read More Here 

Autistics Speaking Day 2018 Prep

Hello all!

Corina here!

I have the submission form up for ASDay 2018 in case anyone wants to submit something early for this year. A reminder that even if you submit early, ASDay starts on November 1 and that's when submissions will be posted.

Link to the submission form is found in the side bar and here.

Can't wait to see everyone's submissions this year!!

Participants List 2017

Autistics

Courtney Johnson - The Case for Identity-first
Anonymous Guest on Samantha Hack's Tumblr - Sparrows and Penguins
C.L. Bridge - I’m Not “Other”, I’m Your Classmate
Cyndi/butterflyinthewell - The Heart Asks For Pleasure First
Leonard Corey Philip - Neurodiversity Theory: An Introduction
Paula Jones - Understanding the female aspire in your life. (see content warnings)
Carolina Rutz - Of Acceptance and Kisses from Silver Charm (see trigger warnings)
K. Bron Johnson - We're Not As Divided As You Believe
Dani Alexis - Sad Little Autistics Can't Get Girlfriends and That's Not a Bad Thing
Rachel Waters - The Woman Who Mistook Herself for a Sociopath
Nicolette - An Open Letter to Autism Speaks
Christy Walk - We Are Still Here and Not Going Anywhere
Leeanne Marshall - Autistics Speaking Day: On Understandings
chavisory - Autistics Speaking Day 2017: What I would say to autistic people who want a cure
echolaliachamber - My body is not your empathy gimmick
Nika Rivilis - "I Wish You Knew."  (Removed by author's request)
Dallas Brogden - Stop attacking us and start listening to us: Autistic adults (see trigger warnings)
Jane Au Strauss - #Autistics Speaking Day (see trigger warnings)
Tamsin Parker - Force of Habit
Janey Colbourne - Nonverbal Day Today
Janey Colbourne - #ADHD and #ASD do they make a good couple?
Catsidhe - Words Cut (see trigger warnings) 
Paula Jones - Adventures of an autistic business owner (see content warnings)
Vanissar Tarakali - Somatics on the Spectrum (see content warnings)
Spekkio - How the Victorian Public Service discriminates against autistic graduates (see trigger warnings) 
Alyssa - "Speaking" to academia #ASDay
TimeTravellingGirl - Autistics Speaking Day: Special Interests and Autism
AutismDogGirl - We need to stop treating AAC as a last ditch option and more
Corina Becker - For ASDay 2017 and Ever After
Adelaide Dupont - Does the happy autist have a history? (see trigger warnings)
Brigid Rankowski - La La La, I'm so Happy
tahrab - The assessment and The supermarket (see trigger warnings)

The supermarket

tahrab writes The supermarket at lucalunablog.

Trigger warnings at the post:  swearing (arsehole, crap, damn, fuck, goddamn, motherfucker, shit),  sensory integration issues

Trigger warnings here:  swearing (damn, fuck)


The supermarket

I’m heading to the supermarket. Either one. I only use the third player for its salmon and those damn rice cracker packs my kids inhale. And even then I exit with a random middle aisle purchase or seven…you know the ones. The beach towel. The craft pack. The soap dispenser (seriously?). The bamboo chopping board and bag of tennis balls. So…focus.

 I’ve pulled in to park. My silver SUV blends with the other silver SUVs except for its side scrapes on both sides. Starting to rust. The maneuvering just to get the car in or out of our garage does my head in. I can spend the next 15 minutes of the drive ruminating over the “stupidity and greed of developers”. I cannot understand at a deep cellular – seriously at a visceral level – why anyone would choose to squash us all in. Why not allow a little wriggle room for those days when my hands ache and my sense of spatial awareness isn’t the best? For fuck’s sake. But I digress.

Read the full post here.

The assessment

tahrab sends us The assessment

It’s Spring and the city light is squinty bright. We’re driving up winding streets with seascape views so stunning I almost forgive the traffic crush. My stomach is aching with nerves and my hands are shaky.

We find Building 2 after being buzzed in at the boom gate. It’s an industrial complex with a café and a bushblock next door. I can smell the heat on the gums, banskias, natives flowering. Double-storeyed monoliths loom. We take the lift to the second floor.

Inside we say goodbye and I sit in the corner on a black vinyl couch. The magazines are old and domestic. Cakes and clothing and gossip and body size.

I unwrap my half eaten sandwich and crouch over a paper napkin. The very first resuming bite slops tomato on my light pink top. I pad at it with the napkin and manage to both squash and spread it further.

The receptionist at the front desk is chatting to another staff member. They’re comparing shoes. They have worn “the same” as each other, though to me they look quite different. There’s detailed talk (so much of it!) of footwear and driving to their work meeting later that day as neither “want to walk in high heels”. I look at my broad sandalled feet.

My name is called and I’m ushered down the corridor and into a windowless room. I was going to write airless, for that’s how it instantly felt, like a sudden squeeze to my chest. The walls and carpet are a yellowish beige and there are two noisy canvasses hung. Four itchy blue chairs circle a coffee table. “Please take a seat”.

The day begins and on it goes in various forms till the mid afternoon. There’s talking and answering all sorts of questions and discussing such a range of topics that I’m genuinely surprised. My mother is phoned for an interview part way through and I retreat to the café to guzzle peach iced tea and answer more questionnaires. My head is now spinning.

When I return to the room there’s still more discussion. Then, finally, as we limp to the finish line, the assessor delivers her diagnosis, my diagnosis: you have autism spectrum disorder. You have had it since birth, you will always have it and it is not ambiguous. You are not borderline, it is not a maybe, it’s very clear. Here are my findings and here’s my reasoning and here are some recommendations.

Though I know she’s a clinical psychologist specialising in autism, I hear myself nevertheless asking how long she’s been doing these assessments, you know just in case she has no idea. She smiles and says “six years”.

She hands me some paperwork and leads me to the lift. Down I go to the afternoon sun and sit out by the boom gate waiting for my husband to collect me. He arrives with our daughter and a block of chocolate.

We drive back to the seaside suburb we’re staying in and he drives on to collect the boys from their robotics day. I’m alone in the apartment, an art deco place with terrible acoustics. I make a rattling cup of tea and wait.

Soon there’s a knock on the door and I open it to the four of them. First my oldest son who too has autism. He is beaming. His mouth seems gorgeously huge – his face is all smile and shining eyes. He doesn’t say hello but simply bursts with “so I hear you have autism – that’s awesome!” and wraps his arms around me so tight and for so long that I’m quite sure it’s the longest he’s ever hugged me. Then our second son, who is also autistic. “Hi mum, you’ve got autism. Cool.” And he slides past nodding to himself. My daughter’s next, tugging at my arm “we bought you flowers mummy!” and then my husband stumbles in carrying bags and hats and water bottles…“Hey bella” and I fall into another embrace that seems to last forever.

La La La, I'm so Happy

Brigid Rankowski posts La La La, I'm so Happy on A Road To Me

I miss writing.

I miss it so much, that I figured today was as good a day as any to take it back up.

Yesterday was Autistics Speaking Day. To learn about the origins of the event click Here.

I’ve talked about writing and have reconnected with people who ask me if I write or have a blog, so here is an attempt to unearth this creation as I begin to move forward with my career.

---

I woke up last week with the strangest feeling, or at least it was strange to me. I wasn’t anxious. I wasn’t too tired. I wasn’t feeling like I was missing something.

I woke up feeling happy. Then, I spent the rest of my day being happy. Then, for the next few days the feeling didn’t go away.

Read More on A Road to Me 

Does the happy autist have a history?

Adelaide Dupont submits Does the happy autist have a history? from Halfway up Rysy Peak

Trigger Warnings for genitalia mutilations, child marriages, historical mention of cure, historical mention of research, emotional labour, gangs, bullying behaviour, happiness as tool of social control, denialism, oppression, medical mismanagement, pseudoscience, florescent street lighting, and human intentional betrayal

We have no past 

We won't reach back

Keep with me
forward all through the night [Lauper 1980ish].

And there is a chance under these white street lamps and with the maps which got us through to the street.

My question is Does the happy autist have a history?

When I was with you all at #31for21 it was as a guest and with the courtesies observed that would be proper and expected of a guest.

Who do I mean by the happy autist? Of course I mean each individual autist and their happinesses whether or not I know them/you.

I also mean something reified - something abstract. Something you might well have seen in the media and tried to reach.

You might say as you read this, "I am a happy autist. I have a history."

Or: "My happiness and my history was lost, stolen or mislaid at some point or another".

How the Victorian Public Service discriminates against autistic graduates

Spekkio has sent in an essay on How the Victorian Public Service discriminates against autistic graduates

How the Victorian Public Service indirectly discriminates against autistic graduates

Trigger warnings for linked essay: unemployment, depression, discrimination, ableism, swearing (bullshit, piss, crap).

Trigger warnings for here: unemployment, discrimination, ableism, swearing (hell).

In honour of Autistics Speaking Day, I’m sharing my complaint about how the Victorian Public Service mishandled my application for their Graduate Recruitment and Development Scheme. The complaint takes the form of a long-winded essay posted on a popular graduate forum. If you ignore the swearing and some of the pompous phrases, which the forum won’t let me edit out, it’s probably the best thing I’ve written all year. 

For ASDay 2017 and Ever After

Corina Becker wrote For ASDay 2017 and Ever After on No Stereotypes Here

For ASDay 2017 and Ever After

I didn't think I was going to write something this year.

I have two works in progress waiting for me to finish, after all. A piece on how jokes can be harmful, especially when IEPs and disability are thrown in, and an open letter to Simon Baron-Cohen about how he's completely ignorant on neurodiversity when he tried to write about it in a recent article.

These are pieces that are so close to being completed. And like a lot of my work, I'm not sure how to conclude them. How do I tell when something is finally done? How do I wrap it up?

It's a problem I have with my writing, it's a problem I have with a lot of projects. I wonder if it's going to be a problem I'll have with ASDay. I hope one day I'll be able to say "okay, it's been a good run. We did what we set out to do. We're no longer needed," and pack it all up.

And while I think 2017 has been a bit of a slow year, for various reasons, I don't think this is the year that happens.

It may be the year I spent the night before hanging out with a friend having a mental health crisis. It may be the year I spent the evening beforehand at work on a retail shift wearing inappropriate shoes because I was in costume and totally regret it (always, ALWAYS wear appropriate work shoes, even if it doesn't go with your costume). It may be the year I only got 5 hours sleep and dashed out the door to a doctor's appointment.

It may be the year my doctor told me to stop doing everything that I love, to stop typing, to stop writing, to stop all my hobbies and restrict all my leisure pursuits. It may be the year that I promptly ignored my doctor's advice and spent over twelve hours on the internet, doing what I love.

Because ASDay is still needed. Because someone sent in a 20-page essay on neurodiversity as philosophy theory. Because we're still fighting for AAC to be considered a language in its own right. Because I can't count how many people send in self-discovery stories. Because autistic people are still demanding our rights, demanding to be heard.

And we're not going away.

So, for this ASDay, and the next one, and as many as it takes, here I am.

We need to stop treating AAC as a last ditch option and more

AutismDogGirl writes We need to stop treating AAC as a last ditch option and more on Nonspeakingnotsilent

im going to keep this short, I’m tired and low on spoons I have been for a while now, I mean low on spoons  but I wanted to get something out for Autistic speaking day.

We need to stop treating AAC like a last ditch option, so often I see parents waiting till their kids ore older to try AAC, they are told to try for speech  they believe that if they go straight to AAC that they will loose the opportunity for speech, but the science just isn’t behind this! Study after study has proven that if anything AAC helps promote speech  but more importantly they are loosing valuable time and spending years denying their kids access to communication methods in fear of not getting for mouth words. This isn’t just against the since it’s massively cruel, providing and teaching communication to your child should take priority over all else.  Not all of us will gain mouth words and that’s ok but it is critical you do everything to help us access methods of communication that work for us!

We need to do away with the idea of prove it low tech first this is archaic and BS  just google “everything wrong with prove it low tech first”and that should give you plenty of blogs with explanations.

Introducing comprehensive aac early and modeling is critical

We need to start treating AAC like a language and we need to start valuing AAC as much as we do as mouth words!

We need to recognize that AAC access is important and critical for many individuals with a variety of persevered verbal abilities. i say percieved as all to often what you see is not all that we are trying to say or express but often we cant get all the right mouth words, or the wrong ones come out, or they wont come out at all even when we know exactly what we want to say.

there are many Autistics (and im sure NTs) who can speak well or even exceedingly well but loose speech and need AAC part time. their need is no less real than someone who has never spoke a word.
some individuals need AAC to help them hold and process thoughts as they type them out so they can communicate clearly. Their need for access to AAC is real!

Some Autiscs have an easier time typing or using symbols than mouth word their need for AAC is real

Autistics  who ha intermittent speech, their need for AAC is rel

the autistic who has neever spoke a words need for AAC is real

Autistics that type and speak the words as they types need for AAC is real

baseline if someone expresses and interest in AAC no matter how old or how verbal their need and right to have access to AAC is real and valid

we need to change the converastion around AAC, from something tabo to just another way some individual communicate.

lastly it is acceptable and we need to nomalize switching between multiple modes of communication  be it

AAC- signs- sounds-pecs
0r
verbal speech aac-sounds
or verbal speech-sogn
or
sign-aac sounds - letter board
or
letter board-verbal speech- pecs

and so on most any combination you can think of every individual has needs to be allowed their right to switch through ( yes even you)

Autistics Speaking Day: Special Interests and Autism

TimeTravellingGirl sends us


"Autistics Speaking Day: Special Interests and Autism"


Most autistic people have "special interests", sometimes called "obsessions" or "large interests". A special interest is an interest that a person spends a lot of time and enjoys, more so than "normal". A special interest can literally be anything: Some of my main special interests have included Great Big Sea (a band), The Sims, Back to the Future, Ferries, Planets and Winnie the Pooh. Other autistic people have had special interests in topics like dogs, Star Trek, trains, politics, airplanes and piano. This is in no way a complete list and I didn't even list all my special interests. That would take forever. At most times, I have had more than one special interest, it is sometimes believed that autistic people can only have one special interest at a time. I currently have three. So, are special interests beneficial? Most of the time, yes. People have developed careers based on special interests. I, myself, am thinking of opening a business that is related to my special interests. Another example is a person who has a special interest in animals becoming a vet or working with animals in some other way. I, personally use special interests as a coping mechanism. When I am upset or overwhelmed, I tend to indulge myself in special interests. In the past, I have listened to my favourite music. Now, I may watch clips from Back to the Future or play The Sims (or the Back to the Future video game. It is also cool to find someone who shares your special interest with you, it can help you make friends (if you so choose of course). Many of us are told that they we can't talk about our special interests or do any activities involving them. This does not work very well. First of all, in my case, whenever I have been preventing from engaging in a special interest, I have always ended up developing another one. Also, it takes away a coping mechanism that many of us use. I have been told to let other people talk about their interests and to never talk about mine. Not so much as a teen or adult, but certainly as a child. Sometimes, the other person's interests, don't interest me at all and I kind of drift away from conversation. For example, I have absolutely no interest in snap-chat whatsoever, so whenever someone starts talking about, I get bored. Just like people might do if I talk about something I'm interested and they are not. The trick here is find a compromise (or people who share your interest) instead of telling autistic people not to talk about their interests at all. I recall a time when I was in a social skills class (that's a other blog post), and both me and my social skills partner (also neurodivergent), wanted to talk about video games, but our social skills teacher told us that we had to talk about school, even though we were both interested in video games. Neither of us wanted to talk about school, so why would we? In real life, people don't discuss topics that bore both of them because society requires they talk about it. The bottom line is that special interests are rarely harmful or destructive and actually serve a benefit to many autistic people. Thanks, AP

Somatics on the Spectrum

Vanissar Tarakali sends us Somatics on the Spectrum on YouTube


Content Warning for sound quality, length of video (1 hour), and description of alternative medicine (somatics)

Adventures of an autistic business owner

Paula Jones sends us Adventures of an autistic business owner from YouTube

(Content warning for the use of ableist slur)

"Speaking" to academia #ASDay

Alyssa writes "Speaking" to academia #ASDay at Yes, That Too

I wear many metaphorical hats. I'm a teacher. I'm a published poet. I'm a disability studies scholar, affiliated with a university but not for disability studies. I'm a graduate student in neuroscience. I'm an Autistic advocate, and not only a self-advocate (advocating for myself is often harder than the general stuff.) I'm a blogger.

Always, I am all of these things (and a bunch of other things). Sometimes, I get the opportunity to combine them. I've been blogging for GradHacker, part of Inside Higher Ed, since the start of the calendar year. That's for writing that's relevant to graduate students, or about graduate school.

Even though I know disabled graduate students exist, and disabled professors exist, and anyone teaching will eventually have disabled students, I've worried before every disability-related pitch I've made to them. Is it a topic that anyone outside disability communities would care about? Do they have enough background to understand the issue even if they care? Will the editors go for it, even if the audience would find the post useful?

[Keep reading at Yes, That Too]

Force of Habit

Tamsin Parker sends in Force of Habit on Vimeo.

Tamsin was a finalist in the National Autistic Society's Autism Uncut Film and Media Awards. 

Please check it out!

Nonverbal Day Today

Janey Colbourne writes Nonverbal Day Today at Heartseer

Nonverbal Day Today

Non-verbal day today
How can I explain
When my brain
Finds it hard to talk?
The thought of it is stressful
Do you mind if I just text you?
It’s nothing personal
Just my visual
Mind works better
On these days

#ADHD and #ASD do they make a good couple?

Janey Colbourne writes #ADHD and #ASD do they make a good couple? at Heartseer

#ADHD and #ASD do they make a good couple?
  
It is not uncommon for ASD and ADHD to be given as a dual diagnosis. I’ve been considering if, when they occur together, rather than being comorbid, they in fact complement or compensate for each other. The classical symptoms of ADHD include distraction, impulsivity and hyperactivity. The classic symptoms of ASD include obsession/hyperfocus, a love of routine and predictability and a tendency for social isolation. Clearly this is stereotypical but I am simplifying here for a moment, while I explore an idea.

I have ADHD and my mind flies around, bursting with ideas. I can be impulsive, with a tendency to blurt and easily get overexcited. I also have autistic traits, awaiting diagnosis. My autistic side loves predictability, hates excessive demands and prefers solitude and quiet contemplation. These two might seem contradictory, but they act as moderators for each other. They coexist at the same time, although sometimes one or other may be slightly dominant. Sometimes they conspire to get me in a panic. Overall I think they help each other.

My ASD hyperfocus helps my ADHD to get focused and stick to a task. On her own my ADHD gets so excited about something that she wants me to leap around shouting, or alternatively she gets bored and wanders off. My ADHD is bursting with ideas and darts off in unexpected directions to bring back a fresh perspective. This helps my ASD to open up and not get too stuck in a rut. My ADHD has a tendency to blurt what I’m thinking before I’ve assessed the situation. My ASD might not be great at assessing the situation either, but has sufficient inhibition and dislike of making a fuss to make me bite my tongue. My ASD gets tired easily, especially when it comes to auditory processing and is another way she calms down my ADHD from throwing me into excessive social peril. Together ADHD and ASD love to think and create. ASD helps my ADHD to stay on track and not run off chattering inanely to the nearest person, so they can work together. ASD needs ADHD’s bright ideas and energy. ASD can get the quiet she needs if ADHD is kept occupied with some exciting revelations to chew on. ASD has some awesome topics that she wants to work through and ADHD is only too happy to bounce these around and see what she can make with them. She can also spot when ASD is overthinking and pull her out of her ruminations.

ADHD doesn’t like to be too constrained by rules and routines. She finds them too boring. She might get into trouble. ASD craves predictability and likes to do things correctly. She might sometimes miss out on opportunities. ADHD and ASD are good together, like Howard Moon and Vince Noir.

Words Cut

Catsidhe writes Words Cut at Catsidhe

Trigger warning:  Ableist slurs, racial slurs, homophobic slurs


Words Cut

Words cut.

There was a time when I used those words, because I was ignorant. And because everyone around me used them, and I thought that that’s just what you did.

#Autistics Speaking Day

Jane Au Strauss writes #Autistics Speaking Day

Trigger warning:  Violence, domestic violence, chemical restraint, PTSD

#Autistics Speaking Day

It completely slipped my mind that today was “Autistics Speaking Day” - likely because my unwillingness to toe anyone’s party line has apparently gotten me out of the loop for such information. So maybe this will show up somewhere else or maybe not.

These days, I find increasingly that I am neither fish nor fowl. Definitely not NT - and due to my situation, not easily fitting into the world of the “autistic activists” few of whom are parents, and fewer of whom seem to have offspring who have ever presented significant behavioral challenges or been anything but delightful. Thus, they cannot relate to my world or my experience.

Stop attacking us and start listening to us: Autistic adults

Dallas Brogden writes Stop attacking us and start listening to us: Autistic adults at Fire Bright Star Soul

Trigger Warning:  Discussion of bullying, both of autistic children and online harassment of autistic adults by non-autistic parents of autistic children.


Stop attacking us and start listening to us:  Autistic adults


I don’t even know how to caption this, or preface it. So I will do what I always do, sit down, close my eyes, and start typing.

When you say you’re an “autism warrior mom” I wonder if you have Autism. I hope so because then I know you’ll understand first-hand what it means to fight our fight.

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t advocate for my child” you say. Well, and good. Duly noted. But you, as a neurotypical, can only go so far. You can take that battle only to the level of YOUR understanding, not ours.

Read the full post here.