April 23, 2019

Cool Aspects of Autistic Culture

Howdy DSISD,

One of my favorite pieces published during this acceptance month is “7 Cool Aspects of Autistic Culture”. This short read introduces some community vocabulary and gives useful insight into our autistic students.

• Samefood
• SpIns and Infodumps
• Stimmy Stims
• Sensory Hell
• Happy Flapping
• Autigender
• Autism Cousins

Until one day… you find a whole world of people who understand.

The internet has allowed autistic people- who might be shut in their homes, unable to speak aloud, or unable to travel independently- to mingle with each other, share experiences, and talk about our lives to people who feel the same way.

We were no longer alone.

Source: 7 Cool Aspects of Autistic Culture | The Aspergian | A Neurodivergent Collective

Ann Memmott PGC Awareness Month on Twitter: “#ActuallyAutistic #culture and communication. It exists. And hurrah. https://t.co/nuDXnkkdFI Not broken. Different. Different is OK.” / Twitter

Eleven Ways You Can Make Your Autistic Child’s Life Easier

Pair 7 Cool Aspects with THINKING PERSON’S GUIDE TO AUTISM: Eleven Ways You Can Make Your Autistic Child’s Life Easier.

• Processing Time
• Visual and Auditory Processing
• Sensitivity to Barometric Pressure
• Undiagnosed Heartburn (or Other Medical Conditions
• Stimming
• Echolalia
• A Serious Need for Chill Time
• Face Blindness, or Prosopagnosia
• Sensitivity to Tone of Voice
• Simplify Their Space
• Need for Respite

Thinking Person’s Guide To Autism on Twitter: “”If you want to do right by your autistic kid (or any autistic person, really), then please do your best to understand and respect these eleven factors about being #autistic.” Autistic-informed advice, from the #TPGA archives: https://t.co/gYvvZtgodM #Neurodiversity #autism” / Twitter

Selected Tweets

Here’s a selection of Acceptance Month tweets from autistic people.

Rabbi Ruti Regan (aware of awareness) on Twitter: “You may not mean anything bad by #AutismAwareness or #LightItUpBlue, but #ActuallyAutistic people can’t read your mind, and what you’re doing looks identical to what people who hate us do. Your intentions do not go without saying. #AutismAcceptance #AwarenessAwareness” / Twitter

ABA Controversy UK on Twitter: “Top tip #PBSisABA Don’t be fooled when #ABA orgs such as @AmbitiousAutism start calling their ABA Positive Behaviour Support #PBS And what happened about the ABA research they are supporting that has also quietly got dropped from their website? #ABAharms #SmokeScreenAndMirrors https://t.co/fJnTLez42r” / Twitter

Thinking Person’s Guide To Autism on Twitter: “Autism professionals, pls read @phineasfrogg on @SueReviews & @HappeLab’s Autism: A New Introduction to Psychological Theory & Current Debate, as it provides “a strong antidote to the gloom-&-doom, causation- & normalisation-focused autism research field.” https://t.co/2Yk6Y15yiO” / Twitter

Ann Memmott PGC Awareness Month on Twitter: “@AutieSpeaking @ClearAutism Mmm, they’re doing very well so far in trying to get it into as much of the NHS as possible under its alternative name of Positive Behaviour Support (which used to be a kind and collaborative theory, but is now a branch of ABA). I doubt they’ll stop there.” / Twitter

Cal Montgomery on Twitter: “The first step of self-advocacy is to express “I like that” and “I don’t like that.” Most babies are communicating and self-advocating almost as soon as they are born. Turning your face toward music or relaxing to a loved one’s caress are forms of self-advocacy.” / Twitter

Ann Memmott PGC Awareness Month on Twitter: “Autism Diagnosis for Adult - what happens? Quick thread. There are various different types of interview, and each diagnostic team will have their own best way of working, but they’re all exploring the same sort of thing. So…here we go..../” / Twitter

Thinking Person’s Guide To Autism on Twitter: “@stevesilberman @JHMarble @Square @WIRED @aneeman @Hannahgadsby Steve wants to know what John things companies who want to do right by autistic people/employees need to do. John: Acceptance and accommodation. Most of the managers he consults with worry about how to retain their employees. This is how. #Neurodiversity” / Twitter

Shona Awareness Month on Twitter: “I find (mostly NT) parent groups really hard because of the upsetting way parents talk about their autistic children. Can we make a thread of examples? I don’t want to censor people but some parents just don’t realise how much damage they are doing. I’ll start…” / Twitter

Ann Memmott PGC Awareness Month on Twitter: “”My #autistic child is in distress and I don’t know why”. A thread. A checklist. Not a complete list, just some ideas. Here we go… First - emergency safety check. Are they injured or ill? So many autistic people have unusual pain responses, and the only sign is distress. /” / Twitter

Shannon Des Roches Rosa on Twitter: ““So often I see parents waiting till their kids are older to try #AAC, they are told to try for speech, they believe that if they go straight to AAC that they will loose the opportunity for speech, but the science just isn’t behind this!” https://t.co/2PyOe8YHdp #Neurodiversity” / Twitter

Emma Dalmayne on Twitter: “AIM were recently contacted on our Facebook page by an autistic man named Jonathan Michael Walton. Jonathan, 30, from Bradford, UK was subjected to ABA and has now been referred by his GP for psychotherapy due to the PTSD it caused him. 1/2” / Twitter

Ann Memmott PGC Awareness Month on Twitter: “@everhopeful1000 No idea either, but I’m not a fan of functioning labels, as all they measure is how ‘inconvenienced’ by our presence other people feel, not our actual set of experiences, strengths and areas needing support.” / Twitter

Ann Memmott PGC Awareness Month on Twitter: “Repetitive behaviours (RRB) & autism, e.g. hand flapping. Long assumed to be a negative, needing intensive treatment, https://t.co/kO9GUnQH8r “RRBs play a functional role, … these behaviors are primarily an advantage because they promote their level of functioning”. Yes indeed” / Twitter

Ann Memmott PGC Awareness Month on Twitter: “”Qualified in autism”. Whatever does that mean? A quick thread. Someone yesterday was talking about this. It’s important, as a subject. Not least because we see a number of people who have a paper qualification in autism, but it’s actually..../” / Twitter

Alex Haagaard on Twitter: “When abled people talk about “accessibility” at events they often mean step-free access and maybe captioning / sign language interpretation. What are some lesser-known accommodations that have helped (or would help) make events inclusive for you? https://t.co/mRaehwsJma” / Twitter

That’s all for now. Thanks for your time,

Ryan