Yet another ‘ah-ha’ moment for me. One of my most popular pieces is I Was Masking For So Long, I Lost Myself. That story begins with the following quote: “She doesn’t have her own personality, she just acts like whoever she’s with.” An observant, but cruel bully said this about me, I think I was aboutContinue reading “Autistic Mirroring, Masking, & “Unstable Personality””
Tag Archives: Self-Advocacy
Autism “Levels” Are Still Functioning Labels
Both are inaccurate and useless at best, harmful at worst External and internalized ableism The Autistic community has explained (and explained some more) how and why functioning labels are unhelpful, inaccurate, and often harmful. Many just ignore us, but those who do listen seem to understand the words, but not the concept. Instead of using labelsContinue reading “Autism “Levels” Are Still Functioning Labels”
Epilepsy Awareness Day
My personal experiences with seizures and idiopathic epilepsy I am not currently diagnosed with epilepsy, but I did struggle with idiopathic seizures in my mid-twenties (idiopathic essentially means they don’t know how or why they started). Unfortunately, being a young female with mental health issues and unexplained medical problems often leads to doctors and other medical professionalsContinue reading ” Epilepsy Awareness Day”
Autistic Self-Diagnosis Is Valid
Because the diagnostic process is highly flawed Dear fellow self-diagnosed adult autistics who are struggling with imposter syndrome, gate-seeking, and other barriers to formal diagnosis: You are not alone. The DSM-V criteria for autism was written with little white boys in mind, and nearly all autism-related research is still being done by neurotypical researchers, and is still focused on little whiteContinue reading “Autistic Self-Diagnosis Is Valid”
Why I Prefer Identity-First Language
I’m Autistic, Not “On The Spectrum” Why I prefer identity-first language First off, I am newly-diagnosed, so I am still learning about myself and about the wider neurodivergent community. Secondly, I speak only for myself. Autistic people are not a homogenous group, there exist a variety of perspectives, opinions, and experiences amongst individuals. I doContinue reading “Why I Prefer Identity-First Language”
Uncovering The Camouflage
A series about unmasking our authentic neurodivergent selves Masking Story Series We’ve published a number of stories on the topic of masking, and later unmasking, one’s neurodivergent characteristics and qualities. Masking is hiding our neurodivergent traits in order to fit in with the majority neurotypical society. The act of masking is different for everyone, the stress it takesContinue reading “Uncovering The Camouflage”