AUTISTIC SELF-EXPRESSION
Being Proudly Autistic
Liberation’s Freedom Song
My autism revelation catapulted my liberation. It allowed me to begin understanding my story—the why behind, for most of my life, feeling different, unusual, and like I didn’t belong. This is a story many autistics, and non-autistics, share. It’s...
[Poem] For Us Autistics: Take My Hand
The desert is blooming. The dead awakens: light upon wildflowers glistens sun through old waters— a return to home: The home within your cells. The home within your bones. The home that carries the cries of your ancestors, the blood of your lineage....
WE DON’T NEED TO CURE AUTISM
We don’t need to cure autism. Autism and those of us who are autistic don’t need to be pathologized. I don’t need or want my autism cured. I don’t need or want my daughter’s autism cured. What the autistic community wants and needs is acceptance....
Autism Acceptance Month
It’s Autism Acceptance Month and so many of my dear ally, autistic, advocate friends are already aching and it’s only the 5th day in. Many of the loud messages out there, by sometimes well-meaning (sometimes not), but often misinformed people (because they...
AUTISM & SENSITIVITY
A hallmark of autism is extreme sensitivity that can be expressed in ways that don’t appear socially “acceptable” or typical. This tends to be through movement, silence, or sound. We may become agitated or overwhelmed/overstimulated and begin moving or...
Express Yourself
We get really scared to express ourselves, to show our hearts, and just be who we are. We worry about not being accepted, met, seen, loved, liked, understood, celebrated. We fear not belonging—as though this is even possible. I’m here to tell you...
YOU’RE NOT A SUPERHERO
An autism specialist and I were talking about the prevalent idea that if you love someone who is autistic (especially if you’re a parent of an autistic), then you’ve earned some kind of award. You’re a superhero. You’re a super-person. There are...
CALL FOR NEUROTYPICAL ALLIES
Here’s the thing with autism and those of us who are autistic or have autistic kids: We’re taught (or forced to) “normalize” our experiences and bend to fit into a “neurotypical” society ... a society which does not, mostly, have acceptance or compassion for...
DEBUNKING 6 AUTISM MYTHS: VIDEO 3
Myth #4: People on the spectrum aren’t interested in people, friendships, or relationships… We’re a mother-daughter team, both autistic, and we created this mini-series to debunk common myths, like this one, in order to raise awareness—especially about girls and...