Tag: neurodivergent

  • My Autism Journey

    My husband and I have made so many mistakes and so many great choices together. Just like any good relationship that is human, right? Since my Mom passed away, I have been very reflective and nostalgic. All the feels.

    I am now 40-years-old and I have purchased and sold a house. Not uncommon at my age, however, for my generation it hasn’t been a very easy thing to accomplish. Numbers and Facts. I have worked VERY hard for everything I have. I was a bit spoiled as a child being either the youngest or only child at times. It’s complicated.

    I definitely have trauma from my childhood, most people have at least 1 ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences). My score is about a 4 or 5 out of 9. Luckier than some, unluckier than many. I also grew up with a tremendous amount of privilege being white and I am not at all afraid to admit and acknowledge that.

    I am so proud of who I am at 40. I have been a crappy human many times in my life especially when I was just a young and bright eyed young adult. I didn’t make time always for the people I should have and made stupid decisions like many of us. I self-medicated because I didn’t want to feel all the feels while dealing with everything my Mom went through. I wasn’t ready to unpack my trauma and process. I definitely wasn’t ready to acknowledge that I was living with a severe Mental “illness”. I hid it as best I could because I saw how my Mom was treated by so many- especially those that claimed to be family. Disgusting.

    I also had no idea I was AuDHD and that term didn’t exist. That means I am both Autistic and I have AdHD. Terms and diagnoses serve a purpose but really I am just very very very Neurodivergent. That means my brain diverges from what is considered “normal”. DUH. It seems so obvious now. I had sensory issues I didn’t understand and did some “weird” behaviors. NO idea if they were noticed and ignored or just not noticed.

    The most interesting thing is that family have told me that I was like a motor you couldn’t turn off. My Mom kept me VERY busy with sports and activities, so awesome job Mom. I played instruments and picked it up easily. I could play any sport I tried pretty much but was awesome at Basketball and Softball/Baseball. I did well in school- often testing at high school or college level in grade school apparently from what I was told by my Mom. I was always moving and had a hard time sitting still which is more common with boys with AdHD. Then there are the symptoms that are not noticed in girls usually. When people describe me as a child I sound like a boy with AdHD via stigma. What the?!?

    The reason (one of) why Autism diagnoses have increased so much is because there used to be 2 separate categories. There was those with Asperger’s and those with ASD (Autism Spectrum “Disorder”). Asperger’s was used to describe those people that were highly intelligent but also struggled with social situations like those with ASD. Then after more research they discovered just how much of a spectrum ASD belongs on.

    Now we just call any experience of Autism above a certain score on the very long test- ASD. So, combining said diagnoses practically doubled the prevalence. Also, because of research via Neuroscience and other sciences, we now understand ASD even better. We have learned that Women experience Autism a bit differently and internalize and mask due to stereotypes and stigma of how a girl “should” act.

    Anyway, just wanted to share a bit about my Autism journey and some of the science behind ASD.

  • #Advocacy, #NoKings, #NoMasters

    I was getting ready for the day and this idea for a graphic came to me. What do you think? I might use this in a cultural awareness and disability training I am currently creating. This shows my journey over the last decade! I love the person I have become. THIS is what my Mom and my Grammy and people with disabilities and mental health struggle just like ME, taught me. We won’t ever be silenced again! Trump, we are coming for you, ***hole.

    #advocacy

    #activism

    #disabilityawareness

    #culturalawareness

    #fucktR

    #nokingsinamerica

    #NoFascism

  • Autism Iceberg

    I came across this on Facebook and thought it was very relatable. There are a lot of strengths not mentioned here too. Having a strong sense of justice for everyone, an abundance of empathy, think outside the box, offer different perspectives, creative, and also unique just like all humans. Can you relate to any of these?

  • AuDHD and Change

    Four season tree, photo manipulation, magical, nature

    Have you ever seen a child or adult with autism stand at the door with their bags packed even though it might be hours or days before the trip is happening?

    Here is how that translates into adulthood with AuDHD. My logical brain knows that we are moving in the middle of July. However, my emotional brain kicks in combined with executive functioning differences. So, I have nights like tonight where I am struggling to get to sleep because I am ready to pack my bags and boxes and put them by the front door, so everyone knows I am ready to move. It’s hilarious and sad at the same time because trauma plays into this a lot, but the humor comes from how silly it can seem from the outside.

    My brain is ready to close one chapter and start another. While my logical brain says ok slow down, we have to plan and do tasks to get there. My emotional brain says this situation has been traumatic and I want to leave it behind.

    When I was a kid and I was excited about someone coming to visit, I would stand with my face against the glass waiting for them to turn around the corner into the cul-de-sac I lived in, and if the plan changed, I was devastated, and my day was ruined.

    Some of our “behaviors” can seem strange or concerning to people because they don’t understand the reason for it, but that can lead to a lot of stigma. If you are human, you have “behaviors”. That is normal. When you have a disability these “behaviors” suddenly get labeled as difficult or unusual. When humans have “behaviors” they are communicating a need that isn’t being met. For people who don’t use words to communicate this becomes dangerous. If you would like to see how dangerous, I encourage you to watch the documentary “This is Not about Me” by Jordyn Zimmerman.

    We need to remember that if it harms nobody then let people be- stop judging and worry about your own life. If you have time for judgment, then you need to get a life or use that time productively.

    Final thoughts- I have been thinking about the 10 Principles of Disability Justice today and how important they are now more than ever. Really it should just be a guide on how to be the best human possible. Here they are from the Sins Invalid website:

    1. INTERSECTIONALITY “We do not live single issue lives” –Audre Lorde. Ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy, has rendered the vast majority of the world “invalid.”
    2. LEADERSHIP OF THOSE MOST IMPACTED “We are led by those who most know these systems.” –Aurora Levins Morales
    3. ANTI-CAPITALIST POLITIC In an economy that sees land and humans as components of profit, we are anti-capitalist by the nature of having non-conforming body/minds.
    4. COMMITMENT TO CROSS-MOVEMENT ORGANIZING Shifting how social justice movements understand disability and contextualize ableism, disability justice lends itself to politics of alliance.
    5. RECOGNIZING WHOLENESS People have inherent worth outside of commodity relations and capitalist notions of productivity. Each person is full of history and life experience.
    6. SUSTAINABILITY We pace ourselves, individually and collectively, to be sustained long term. Our embodied experiences guide us toward ongoing justice and liberation.
    7. COMMITMENT TO CROSS-DISABILITY SOLIDARITY We honor the insights and participation of all of our community members, knowing that isolation undermines collective liberation.
    8. INTERDEPENDENCE We meet each others’ needs as we build toward liberation, knowing that state solutions inevitably extend into further control over lives.
    9. COLLECTIVE ACCESS As brown, black and queer-bodied disabled people we bring flexibility and creative nuance that go beyond able-bodied/minded normativity, to be in community with each other.
    10. COLLECTIVE LIBERATION No body or mind can be left behind – only moving together can we accomplish the revolution we require.

    My personal thoughts on anti-capitalism are that it’s based on how capitalism has and continues to work in the US. It’s important to note that we don’t practice true capitalism in the US. That is a bigger and different conversation, but I agree with the anti-capitalist sentiment in relation to the social model of disability and the disability justice movement. My good friend reminded me of this today, in fact.

    Regardless of any of this- human rights matter and we need to work together to achieve equity. Equity harms nobody! Nothing About Us Without Us 🫶

  • Assume that I Can…

    This is my favorite video/commercial right now! People with disabilities deserve to have the Dignity of Risk just like everyone else. Take 2 minutes to see why…