Happy to clarify! Ty. The lecture is scientific. The idea that historical occupations may have led to the natural selection for autistic traits is my opinion. I like speculating that fiber arts predates Homo sapiens. Can’t prove it though.

He has been in my thoughts of late. His book shone a bright light on the lived experiences of us older autistics. We are few in number. Suicide, poverty & chronic illness has taken so many of us. Why isn’t anyone else wanting to gather our history? Why doesn’t our collective wisdom matter?

I’ve been campaigning to convince my therapist that he should put aside Asimov & read Hitchhikers instead.

Thank you. I really needed to hear that. I moved from where my peer support work was well known to a place where there is no space or support for people like me. I naively believed I could be a change agent anywhere if only I pushed hard enough. My job now is letting go & accepting.

If asked to share, I absolutely will. Where I live now, feels overrun by ABA. No autistic community can thrive in the face of that. Autistic knowledge is not seen as valuable. Professionals take up all the space. :(

Totally valid. I am puzzled by younger generations’ belief of all emotions must be put online. Can’t see how that leads to healing & coping. Feels like an echo chamber. But I am old- I didn’t grow up with computers/ the Internet. Easy for me to take breaks. Guessing it is much harder for others.

That researcher from 2008, he was one of those dad-of-autistic-person professors, without any medical background, jumping headfirst into autism research b/c of the sweet, sweet cash....also claimed that cannabis could cure autism.

The "Tylenol causes autism" bs goes back to 2008. It was just as ridiculous back then. It felt like every other week, there was an announcement about what caused autism, along with what would "cure" it. I remember Broadstreet (Wakefield crony) saying tunafish sandwiches caused autism...

Being that I am older, trans+autistic, I was approached several years back by a cis femme social worker who ran a trans+autistic support group for teens as a possible speaker. What topics did I want to talk about? I said, "How to deal with thoughts about death". Never heard from her again.

You are so welcome! I got this at the fair, which was unreasonable for to me to attempt (though I was well-prepared). I rented a scooter at an unreasonable price, but it allowed me to relax and enjoy the day. I gently remind myself that Unreasonable is different than irrational.

Update. Therapist firmly says “No, we will not be doing that!” to exposure therapy. He’s going to help me switch to a different prescriber. I know it will be a while. Worth the wait. Much reading to do about mast cells.

You don’t have to wait for his research to learn about the vagus nerve works…. There’s a TEDx talk given by Jessica Maguire. TLDR: Give yourself permission to play.

Today it’s called Floortime. I was 6 years older than my nonspeaking little brother. I was in a caregiving role from age 7-17. professionals for nonspeaking children then didn’t exist. My brother’s sensory diet grew way bigger than mine. He wanted to run, explore, climb, drive…

2 wks ago, I asked my new psych prescriber for a very small amt of a low dose benzo to help me w/ anxiety, caregiver burnout, sensory processing & MCAS. I had to *promise* her I would work on exposure therapy w/ my therapist. I thought, “Wtf! Is your BFF ABA? Stop drinking the damn KoolAid”

Before that awful scary day, I was *sure* I’d done enough work. I was so wrong. I keep thinking of the SNL election night sketches. I moved to a blue state, but it’s not enough. I think about how strong BIPOC kids have to be dealing w/ that hate every day…. I resolve to be braver.

I came out 13 yrs ago. I went down to the AZ senate to give testimony on the anti trans bathroom bill. I’d been in the same room in the past as an autism parent & everyone was welcomed. This time, they called us monsters, said we were a danger to children. I was 1 cough away from being arrested.

We fell short of Sinclair's vision because we collectively didn't do enough to promote the growth of local autistic communities. Imagine how much better off we'd be in a world where Sinclair and Mel Baggs and other ND pioneers were financially supported for their groundbreaking advocacy work.