This account of a teenager & his family is heartbreaking 💔.
Families raising kids who have violent meltdowns struggle to find support. Kids like this are acutely vulnerable to the influence of anyone who is kind to them & any group in which they find acceptance. For those of us who experience meltdowns, learning to understand & manage our overwhelm & the eruptions it leads to is a lifelong journey. For most of us it’s full of failure & shame. Where & how can we find acceptance & love? How can we learn to be gentle with ourselves?
I think many #autistic folk, especially those of us who grew up undiagnosed & unsupported then raised similarly undx, distressed, overwhelmed & volatile autistic kids while unable to find help, would shudder with recognition at elements of this tragic story.
You’re not walking around consciously choosing what to pick up. You don’t choose. You don’t decide. It sticks like a crumb you accidentally stepped onto. Like cat’s hair. Good luck trying to get rid of it: while cleaning one, you get three more. Sometimes some dry out and fall off. You don’t choose which either.
Phrase here, intonation there, a bit of smile from that one, a funny move from another…
I wonder, if someone who has known you some time ago, meets you again in some years, and then meets some people from the same circles - how long does it take to tell those you’ve been interacting with most during those years by how they’ve grown into you, by spotting in them all those new things you’ve become.
When a mimic is put into a safe environment where it doesn’t have to mimic anymore to survive - what shape does it have?
For some reason, it seems to me, it won’t be neither any established form nor an amorphous blob, but rather some chaotic combination, multidimensional exquisite corpse, of various elements flickering between each and every form it has ever taken or observed
And to demand it to show its true form is to take it out of the safe environment
MCAS (particularly when combined with being autistic) gives you the ability to smell everything which sounds like a superpower, but I can assure you is absolutely vile.
Thankfully my new meds seem to be really helping. Ian opened a new packet of lightly scented dog poo bags last night and I didn't immediately eject them from the house, so I'm calling this progress! :ablobcheer:
Part of the mutual aid activism training I did with many new activists, over 3 decades, sometimes solo teach-ins & sometimes collab teach-ins - always included training several folks to work in relay teams to spot/document possible state agents/agent provocateurs & how to kettle & remove them from crowded protests & active large blockades. It's ESSENTIAL proactive training. There's always state agents & also right wingnuts who try to infiltrate big activist movements.
#Autistic#activists are best at training to spot state & #fascist spy agents in midst. It's because of high level of natural #observing skills. Patience with focus. Ability to be detached from emotional pulls. Few other reasons but these are some of the reasons that autistic activists, like me, do well with this type of movements work.
Tweet shared to the FB group Feral Neurodivergent Raging Meme Posting and now here with you. I’ve been down and this was the first thing that made me laugh today. I hope it makes you laugh too. #actuallyautistic#autism#autistic
Do allistic people really need constant interaction with others? In person? It sounds horrific. I lived with other people for years. Often they want interaction. That's just brutal for the autistic mind isn't it? #Autism#autistic#neurodiverse#lgbtqi#ActuallyAutistic
‘Spurred by new archival research and public comments by [Judy] Singer about trans people, a group of autistic academics and advocates argue that “#neurodiversity” should be credited to the early online #autistic community instead.’
Just popped in to visit 'Auntie Pat', that twisted, cantankerous curmudgeon. Now that I know she was probably #autistic a few things about her personal life make a little bit more sense.
..."These poor conditions are not inevitable, but rather the result of policy choices that have prioritised low or no taxes for corporations, austerity, and the interests of the wealthy over the needs of the most vulnerable. The US spends far less on social programs as a percentage of GDP co"...
I'm watching the Jubilee "middle ground" episode (https://youtu.be/9FCixSEjUJ8?si=DuChJz4SMpmWVCYn) about #Autism and something the mum of one of the Autistic folks said sent me off on a "maybe I'm not #ActuallyAutistic" imposter syndrome spiral, so I'm gonna vent my issues with it here.
Basically she was talking about Autism being "trendy" now and "the spectrum" including anybody whether they only have sensory issues and nothing else, etc.
What I suck at is life and people and having a body.
Voices like that woman, who is basically saying "if you don't have high support needs like my daughter then you're not #Autistic" make me feel bad for even needing accommodations.
I deal with huge internalised ableism because of attitudes like hers which are prevalent in society. But acoommodations make a HUGE difference to my life when I allow myself to use/ask for them - but maybe I'm just lazy and making it up?
please help my friend TJ! their bank overdrafted them because it stopped sending notifications when funds were low and they didnt realize it ($39 fee gets added every day). every $1 is appreciated! thank you!
About 80% of being late-diagnosed #neurodivergent (#ADHD, #autistic, or #Audhd) is finding out that we're not horrible fuckups who lack the willpower or moral fortitude to function like the normies. But rather that our brains just run on different firmware and we were never taught how deal with.