Supposed “High Functioning” Autism, and Maladaptive Behaviors

November 11, 2016January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Kaelynn Partlow Facebook.com/AutisticAngle I’m an adult with supposed “high functioning” autism. I drive my own car, and for the most part, I have many self help skills. There is nothing obviously different about the way I speak. I also work as a therapist, with young autistic children. Due to the nature of my job, I am required to get a tuberculuosis (TB) test every year. The test involves a needle, and I’ve had a severe phobia of needles for as long as I can remember. To be perfectly honest, I’ve always had a general phobia when it comes to medical procedures, even the painless ones. So, when it came time for my yearly test, my supervisor accompanied me to provide extra support. She and I have been close for several years and she has been there to support me in many other ways, even before my employment. In the waiting…

Disability

Switched On: A Frank Conversation With Author John Elder Robison

March 23, 2016January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

[image: Book cover, with the title, “Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening”] The new book Switched On is author John Elder Robison’s deeply personal account of seismic shifts in his emotional, social, and perceptual responses to other people, the world, and his own memories — due to participating in brain research on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and autism. I spoke with Mr. Robison about his hopes in choosing this journey, its costs in terms of his own health and happiness, his autism advocacy, and the risk of frantic parents assuming his story means they need to use TMS on their autistic kids. Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism: Are you concerned that people might see Switched On as an argument for “normalization” treatments for autistic people? Even though you are careful to emphasize that “we cannot know the future, or the potential, of anyone,” even though you…

Disability

Puberty Resources: The Girls’ Guide to Growing Up

May 17, 2013January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

We get frequent requests for puberty and sexuality resources and information. While in general, good frank resources are good frank resources — witness the UU Our Whole Lives Lifespan Sexuality Education Curricula — specific guides can be helpful too, such as The Girls’ Guide to Growing Up. This book takes girls through all the aspects of puberty: changing bodies, privacy, menstruation, masturbation, etc. It is also written with even more frankness than most puberty guides; I’ve never seen a photographic guide to understanding when it might be time to change a sanitary pad, for instance. And it reassures girls that while some people have crushes, others don’t (since many autistic people are asexual, this casual reassurance during such a foundational time is important). It also tends to use “person” instead of “boy” when discussing sexual feelings, which reflects reality. The tone overall is very friendly and comforting. It is written…

Graphic with the title "Karla's Emotion Picture (FYI)" Vertical rectangle divided into five horizontal bars. To the left is an upward facing arrow labeled, "intensity" The bottom bar is white and labeled "Unaware". Text to its right reads, "When I was younger I was 100% unaware of any sort of emotion in me and would be shocked when I was in a meltdown all of a sudden. It still happens sometimes today though I try to actively practice awareness of my physical and emotional selves in order to survive." The next bar up is green and labeled "Happy or Sad". Text to its right reads, "Everything is just fine. I am a mostly happy being and sometimes sad. Neither of these emotions are bad to my current awareness nor cause me distress that I know of". Between the green bar and the next bar up is a dotted line labeled "Emotional Regulation Line" Next bar up is yellow and labeled "Some Fear/Anger". Text to its right reads, "I will feel 'off' here but most of the time I cannot articulate what that means and often cannot tie it to any one thing". Next bar up is red and labeled "Bigger Fear/Anger". Text to its right reads, "Here I know FOR SURE that if I do not take corrective action that I will have a Meltdown. Again I sometimes am not sure why this is happening. Mostly I just need to be left alone here." The top bar is black and labeled "Meltdown". Text to its right reads, "A meltdown to me is an intense mixture of fear and anger and other emotions that confuse me. Sometimes I laugh due to the confusion when nothing about it is 'funny'."

Autism

Autistic Grief Is Not Like Neurotypical Grief

August 1, 2012September 6, 2022 by Karla Fisher

There really are no good articles on how to help an autistic person process grief. It is with this hole in mind that I create this article.

Disability

I Feel for You

August 1, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Carol Greenburg aspieadvocate-ascd.blogspot.com I feel sorry for those who think autistics have no ability to empathize. In my case at least, Asperger’s left me too vulnerable to the emotions of others. When I was a little girl, I smiled until my face hurt. I was nowhere near as delighted as the constant smile seemed to indicate, but I was not miserable either. The unrelenting smile was, I now believe, the product of rigid autistic thinking, which had led me to a false conclusion that like everything else in my world, there was a correct and incorrect path. Blocks must be stacked in a certain formation, every imaginable question had right and wrong answers. By that admittedly skewed, reasoning, the same principal must have applied to emotion. There was one correct emotion: happiness, which was always expressed with a smile. Other emotions existed, that was irrefutable. Whatever other explanation could there…