The next time you are tempted to tell an Autistic person their interest is silly, trivial, a waste of time, weird, or pointless, stop—and remember why we love what we love. We are somebody, too, and we must be respected, protected, and never rejected.
Category: Accommodations
It’s important to remember that when an autistic person is struggling or having aggression, they are not being “bad” or trying to do something to you personally—even though it can feel like that, especially if they’re screaming at you or making you angry.
When you help me cope with a meltdown and when you help create an environment that helps me avoid meltdowns, you are helping to build a kinder, gentler world that has room for everyone, no matter what kind of nervous system they have.
Sometimes people try to get your attention by doing things that can appear to be aggressive, but they’re really saying, “I have a problem, and I need help.”
How many anxious people are not getting helped because access to mental health services is blocked by the lack of accommodation for the very issue that brings them seeking services in the first place?
I, an adult person, do not use a phone even though I can speak orally. In fact—and I’m really letting the team down here, according to a certain kind of motivational speaker—I can’t use a phone.
For someone like me—so sensitive to noise that I can actually perceive the bio-mechanical sounds of my own ears ringing aloud—my headphones are an incredible blessing.
Let me stim: Holidays mean hanging with folks who might need a gentle reminder about kindness and accommodation for autistic kids and adults, on being nice about understanding autistic behaviors versus assuming naughtiness.