Neurotribes, by Steve Silverman. Amazing book, it gave context to so many things I have read about autism, misconceptions, contradictions etc. and how we are where we are. It's a hard read because it describes how autistic children were treated (and adults ignored) until not so long ago, but I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about autism. Note it focusses exclusively on North America and (parts of) Europe. #Neurotribes#SteveSilverman#autism@bookstodon
This one is highly personal but is what I deal with daily as both a parent and writer. I aimed to give insight on #autism and the different levels, Non-Verbal, meltdowns, and other disorders that can accompany parenting/caregiving someone with #autismspectrumdisorder Also, the challenges as an author and tips at the very end!
It appears the same technique used to identify and be more in touch with one's stress levels translate quite well to sensory overload as well. Interesting!
It describes it as:
“Autistic burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic life stress and a mismatch of expectations and abilities without adequate supports. It is characterized by pervasive, long-term (typically 3+ months) exhaustion, loss of function, and reduced tolerance to stimulus.” ~Raymaker et al, 2020
Typically the Autistic person in question will still have multiple demands in their life that require cognitive resources, despite having little to no resources left to give. Life goes on, as they say.
@actuallyautistic I'm not #actuallyautistic but I got #adhd diagnosed at 29, realizing that all cliche symptoms and diagnostic surveys are very superficial crap, lacking many subtle aspects.
I wonder, are the "cliche symptoms" for autism any good? E.g. can someone be autistic even if they can "read" other people just fine, and have no noticeable "special interest" or "rigid routines"?
Am I correct thinking this "special interest" thing must be rather persistent, like years/life long?
I read that HHS report on the #EpidemicOfLoneliness. I suppose it's good that the issue is getting some attention, but I was disappointed the report's focus was on "normal" people who are lonely because of circumstances and breakdown of social infrastructure. Disabled people are included in a few lists of groups getting the worst of things, but #autistic people aren't mentioned at all, unless you think the umbrella use of "mental health" counts. How ridiculous is that? We're left out of the report about people getting left out.
Is there a sign I can say "don't make me tap" about that explains how making societal changes to accommodate the people who need it most makes things better for everyone, but if you focus on making things better for the majority who already have it mostly OK you just make things worse overall?
> The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is a [USA] Federal advisory committee that coordinates Federal efforts and provides advice to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Through its inclusion of both Federal and public members, the IACC helps to ensure that a wide range of ideas and perspectives are represented and discussed in a public forum.
I have read the recent report from the Surgeon General on "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation", and was disappointed that the focus was on so-called "normal" people who are lonely because of circumstance or breakdown of social infrastructure. Autistic people are arguably far more affected by isolation and loneliness than most people, but somehow are entirely omitted from the report. This seems outrageous. We are so easy to exclude that we are left out from the report about people getting left out.
We know that applying Universal Design concepts to accessibility creates environments and systems that work better for everyone. Curb cuts allow wheelchair users access to sidewalks, but also improve things for people with baby strollers. We know that making things better for the most vulnerable and most impacted often makes things better for everyone. If we work to reduce loneliness specifically for Autistic people, it's quite likely that will help lonely people of all sorts. But leaving Autistic people out of the conversation means nothing will get better for us, because the things that help most people won't necessarily help us. Creating more ways to do social activities with strangers is not the benefit for us that it might be for allistic people. It might actually make things worse for us, by shifting resources to programs we can't use at the expense of things that might help us.
Autistic people are desperate for help and support, but we and our needs are repeatedly ignored, even by initiatives that should be prioritizing us. It is demoralizing to see a major initiative like the Epidemic of Loneliness exclude and fail us so completely.
People wrongly assume that Autistic people are asocial or anti-social. In my book "The New Normal" I make the case that we are AuSocial with our own cultural and social practices.
There's a good part of me that wonders if there's a correlation between a wider range gender expression (and relationship diversity, perhaps) and the neurospicy tendency to look at conventions that have no reasoning behind them and then ignore the (stupid) conventions and just do what makes sense/ feels "correct" to us.
I am a cishet dude, so I may be VERY VERY off-base here. Thoughts?
It feels unwelcoming to me. Like I shouldn't engage here if I'm not autistic enough. I'm second guessing my own experiences less by the day, but from what I've heard almost everyone with late diagnosis have felt gaslit and left out throughout their lives. With all the self doubt that entails, seeing people proclaiming they're actually autistic feels like yet another "you don't belong here".
The large print version of Late-Identified #AuDHD: A Starter Workbook is almost done! This is a starter workbook for those with late-identified #autism and #ADHD.
I aim to keep the cost of paperbacks the same for equitable access. This version should be live by 8/18/2023! #autistic#actuallyautistic