Here are the top ten articles of 2023 collated and made into an anthology eBook. With contributions from Tanya Adkin ND Social Care & Family Services and Katie Munday Autistic and living the dream! The best part is it's free! Let Everyone know!
Autistic special interests/stimming as seen "in the wild" (of our SUV 😂 )
Spouse: 130
Me: Ooh, what a pretty gray. Of course a young amish man has a flashy horse.
Spouse: What? I was counting train cars.
Me: And I was looking at the horse on that Amish cart. It's a gray, so that's flashy for the Amish.
(Ironically we were on the drive home from the first of two testing days to see if I can get my official DX)
We (@LizShayne, Simcha Weinstein, and myself) are thrilled to announce that we are now accepting submissions for an upcoming book of essay collections that explores the dynamic intersection between neurodivergence, Torah, and Judaism.
This groundbreaking project aims to amplify the diverse voices within the #Neurodivergent Jewish community, inviting contributors to share their personal narratives, insights, and reflections on how their unique neurodivergent perspectives shape their interactions with Torah and Jewish practices.
Submissions are encouraged from individuals who identify as neurodivergent and Jewish, offering a platform for authentic, diverse expressions that will be compiled into a thought-provoking book that explores the multifaceted connections between neurodivergence and Judaism.
(Soft) Deadline for Submissions, December 15.
Tell us about it in a proposal no more than 800 words.
The French State under Emmanuel Macron unveiled its new “plan” regarding #ActuallyAutistic and other #Neurodivergent humans yesterday.
More of the same. That is to say, NOTHING.
A huge 5 year plan about US, without any consultation, whatsoever, with US.
Anyone who knows the French State knows the HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS of hours that went into useless meetings to create this plan. The involvement of THOUSANDS of bureaucrats and “consultants”.
Yet, the result is more ableism. More silencing of autistic voices. More oppression.
Where did the 500M+ euros go for the LAST 5 year plan? Nowhere. Into the hands of private companies who seek to profit via the oppression of autistic bodies.
Where will the 600M+ go now?
Shameful.
The Republic has actual autistic advocates and experts living just steps from the Élysée Palace. Organizations that fight for our rights like @CLE_Autistes
. None of us were consulted.
Who was consulted? Parents groups. Autism groups led and run by non-autistic people. Companies which exist to earn money from the State and autistic people on our backs and commodifying our bodies.
According to the “new and groundbreaking” plan, autistic adults will receive free support groups (weren’t we already meant to be getting support groups under the last plan?). Said groups are led by non-autistic people who actively promote the pathology paradigm of autism, which is rejected by the vast majority of autistic adults. Not an improvement.
It will allow certain autistic adults currently institutionalized to live outside and go work. Cute. As if that is a progressive idea!
What about support for those of us who want a career? A meaningful one? What about support for those of us who cannot work but also do not want to be institutionalized and removed from society, our friends, and families?
What about support for those of us who do work with need help with day to day things? What about support during autistic burnout?
Nothing.
Oh, and the Marianne eugenics project continues on!
France continues to show itself to be unserious and performative when it comes to the civil and human rights of autistic people. Our humanity today, as yesterday, has been denied by those who purport to support us.
I am the co-editor of a forthcoming essay collection about how neurodivergent Jews interact with Torah and Judaism and we are currently accepting submissions. The essays will be published in a book and authors will be compensated.
Divrei Torah, personal experiences, visions for a brighter future, and everything in between are welcome!
At this stage we are taking proposals for articles to be included. Have a great idea that you’re passionate about writing about? Tell us about it in a proposals no more than 800 words.
Message me privately or send me a message via my website for more information.
Stability in recovery requires more than abstinence. It requires support in all domains of life.
Autistic people, in particular, are more likely to struggle with social deprivation, and for us to achieve recovery and/or sobriety, we need support that takes account of the unique challenges that we face.
If you take an intro to psychology class, somewhere along the curriculum will be the topic of IQ tests and you’ll hear that while IQ is a controversial topic with intelligence itself being very difficult to define, but still it’s a useful measure with demonstrable predictive power.
The professor, likely a middle aged, white dude from affluent background, will tell you how it’s very wrong to discriminate people based on their IQ but still, no matter what we think about it, IQ tests have reliable utility in predicting outcomes such as future employment status, earning potential and life expectancy.
Almost invariably, the same professor will claim proudly that IQ is almost completely based on genetics, with some small variations which can be attributed to environmental factors, nutrition, childhood trauma etc.
What you most likely won’t hear is that the best statistical predictor of these very same things is which neighborhood you were born in, and if you set out to devise a test to predict these outcomes and refine it until your results start discriminating on the basis of traits affected by your birth neighborhood, you will have a test that gives the best scores to affluent, white dudes, and lowest to poor, marginalized and non-white people, and that this also happens to be by design.
Folks, I realised that I'm a zest expert who is struggling with my zest.
Let's turn that realisation into something useful for us all!
Integrity is really important to me as a coach. While I am not perfect and I don't have everything sorted (and I am totally fine with that), it's important for me to be open and honest about my own challenges. That's something I do want to have high standards about.
I don't want you to look at my posts and think everything is fine with my life, and that I have some weird and unattainable level of skill for crafting my life that you'll never attain. I want you to know that many of my challenges are also or have been your challenges, at some point.
And that those challenges can be surmountable rather than insurmountable!
So I am being open and honest with you about my own zest struggles this week...and share what I am doing about it in case it helps you.
Zest is a feeling of being alive, energised, enthused and motivated. Zesty people have "get up and go" and do things that bring them joy and make them feel charged up.
When we are busy and we have responsibilities or deadlines, it can be tempting to cancel or avoid activities that are fun but not essential to completing those tasks.
I realised this weekend that this is often a false economy. I have a busy work period right now and I have a lot of external deadlines to meet. As a result, I've been spending my time and brainpower on just getting those tasks done. Yes, I've made some progress but...
...I feel rubbish. My mood has dropped a little. My energy levels are down. And, actually, I notice that I'm less able to engage with the things I need to do, and I'm having to "force myself" a bit more to concentrate. (That's never a good sign, personally.)
I spoke to my own coach and realised that I know what brings me zest BUT I am not making little zest pockets in my schedule to get energy from those things.
As a result, I committed to booking in 20 minute zest pockets into my diary - yes, just 20 minutes - to allow myself to indulge in things I am deeply interested in.
The research in psychology tells us that the emotion of interest can calm the nervous system and give us juicy brain chemicals that boost mood and make us feel energised...so booking in zest pockets is a small, doable and effective way to help myself feel better. And I'll be able to do my tasks better by taking some time out. Sometimes, doing the fun thing is actually the best thing to do to move your work/life admin forward! (I think we need to stop feeling guilty about this, as it is what we need to do what we want to do!)
My first zest pocket was to reconnect with a beautiful special interest from childhood.
As a child, I used to sit in the garden late at night and use my dad's binoculars to look at the night sky and tick off all the constellations I could see in my little i-spy guide. (How they didn't realise I was autistic, I don't know but, hey, it was the 80s.)
Last night, I went out to a dark field near my home for just 20 minutes and picked out some constellations. Then I came home and info-dumped what I'd seen to my very patient girlfriend, who listened and supported me to access my zest. The photos show some of what I saw.
I experienced such joy from stargazing again. And it only took 20 minutes of my time. This morning, I feel enthused and motivated, and my mood has improved a little.
Therefore, I am asking you...
What are you deeply interested in that you've neglected?
Could you spend 20 minutes with it to boost your zest this week?
How would you feel and what would the benefits be if you did so?
And when are you going to do it? Make that commitment to care for yourself by boosting your zest - even if it's in 2 weeks' time, schedule in a brain-date with yourself. It might just help.
I'll keep sharing my own zest journey with you in case it helps.
Reach out to me at any time if you have questions about how to boost your zest!
It's a tough truth to face up to, but not every Autstic/neurodivergent person is a good person. Many of us find out the hard way that there are members of our own community who will do harm to us collectively and individually.
It's important that we acknowledge the truth that we can always do better as a community. We don't have to be perfect. We just have to do a little better each day.
What would a checklist assessment for autism look like if it was based on how autistic people experience ourselves? This research team did a study to find out.
I had a powerful realisation about why I need to lean more into my authentic self this week.
Some of you will be aware that two of my deep interests in coaching psychology are the qualities of zest and self-regulation.
Zest relates to your motivation, energy, mojo, "vim and vigour", and a feeling of alive-ness.
Self-regulation is all about the structures, habits, principles and self-care practices you put into place in your life to feel more balanaced and settled in yourself.
A third interest is demonstrating in both theory and practice that the latter creates the former.
That is to say, if you regulate yourself, it can boost your zest.
It doesn't seem like rocket science when I put it like that, but I am the only coaching psychologist currently to say this explicitly and to be developing a theoretical framework on this - and one that can be useful and inclusive in coaching people like us.
But what I've been doing is hiding this.
I have been too scared that people won't be interested or won't find this information valuable.
As such, I've not been sharing my ideas with you - the very people they could help - to the fullest extent.
I've also had an emotional block around actually producing and publishing my research, and around writing a book - something I have always wanted to do but have not yet put into action.
Thanks to a powerful coaching conversation of my own at the weekend, I have decided to draw a line in the sand and stop hiding my autistic research interests for fear of what others will think.
I will be more authentic and, as a result, happier for being and expressing my true self more. On balance, as long as it is safe to do so, we feel better in our skin when our insides match our public outsides. Currently, this is not true for me - I am hiding parts of myself that are important to me, and it's holding me back as a researcher and a coach.
So what this all means for you lovely people on a practical level is that I'll be talking and writing much more about zest, self-regulation, and the connection between the two.
If you're low on energy and motivation, and feel this would be of interest to you, I'd love to hear below...it'll give me a sense that there are people who will benefit from more honest and open sharing of the research I do.
Over the coming months, you'll see me change my branding messages, newsletters, and blog posts to reflect more content on the topics of zest and self-regulation for neurodivergent people...and how we can foster these safely and accessibly in coaching work.
It starts today. I'm drawing the line in the sand.
Wish me luck and continued bravery on this journey! And let me know if this special focus might be of use to you!
Becci (The Neurodivergent Zest and Self-Regulation Coach...wow, I've actually said it!)