Autism means I am easily overwhelmed. I often need to reset. Self-care is, therefore, a vital aspect of my daily life, my routines. When thinking of self-care, I find it helpful to listen to my internal meters.  One way to think of meters is to think of the overwhelm...

I often meet Autists who dislike themselves. The medicalization of Autism has caused many Autistic people to believe there is something inherently wrong with them. Many, fearing stigma, feel the need to mask, to adapt, to change themselves, to appear less Autistic.  ...

Non-autistic people find it difficult to understand Autistic people, just as Autistic people struggle to understand non-autistic people. Dr. Damian Milton, an Autistic researcher, refers to this neurological disconnect as the double empathy problem, a theory that...

The dog wags its tail, and the cat thinks it is annoyed. The car purrs, and the dog thinks the cat is angry. Should we teach the dog to stop wagging its tail or teach the cat to understand that when a dog wags its tail it does not mean it is angry? Should we teach the...

Like many autists I appear younger than my age, in part because I don’t perform age. I don’t perform age, race or gender, either. I don’t perform. Yet people tend to think I’m performing, that my words have a hidden meaning, or that I’m trying to behave like someone...

Suppose you had a brick on your foot.  And you told someone: “I am in pain. Can you help me get this brick off my foot?” And they said: “You seem very upset. I think you might be anxious.” So, you move to another person: “I am in pain. Can you help me get this brick...

Sensory sensitivities are evolutionary advantages, but these advantages also lead to challenges, as society can feel chaotic for those with complex sensory needs. Crowded, loud, bright, or otherwise chaotic spaces can, for example, cause a neurodivergent person to...

After eight years pretending to not be autistic, I decided to self-identify. Internalized ableism was one reason I hid (from) my autism. Another reason I refused to accept my autism was that I had neither the time nor money to afford a diagnosis. This is still the...

Many people have asked me how I managed the stressors of graduate school as a neurodivergent. I credit therapy. I may not have needed to rely so heavily on therapy if I’d have disclosed my neurodivergence to the university, but I didn’t acknowledge my neurodivergence...

People stare at me, often. When I’m with my sibling, people stare more often. We’re identical twins, and when we’re together people at us constantly. Never do I hear about microaggressions directed towards twins, though they are common.  People other us, and the...