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Autism Acceptance Month 2014: Lynne Soraya

This month we’re asking our autistic community members What Do You Want? What Do You Need? We’re featuring their answers all April long, right here. Today we’re having a conversation with autistic advocate Lynne Soraya. Please read, listen, and share. What are some things you like people to know about you? I always struggle with these types of questions. I am an adult woman on the autism spectrum. Evenings and weekends, I am a blogger for Psychology Today. I am the author of a book for teenagers and young adults on the spectrum called Living Independently on the Autism Spectrum. By day, I work for a Fortune 500 company in the midwest.  I am married and have three grown stepsons. They are all neurotypical. What are some things that make you happy? Why? I love music. It’s a legacy from my father’s side of the family. My paternal grandmother was…

For Autistic Teens Feeling Doomed or Broken

You are not alone. Many teens who receive an autism diagnosis feel broken, and suffer from pain of acceptance — even to the point of suicidal thoughts. And the resources you need are not easy to find. So we asked several adult autistics who were once autistic teens themselves: If you were in this headspace, how would you feel, what would you want people to say to you, what could possibly help? These are their replies. Karla Fisher I was angry the day I received my diagnosis. At first it just made me feel “broken.” People tried to tell me that I was the same person I was before. But those words did not make me feel better. Reaching “acceptance” of my label took me around eighteen months. There is very little written about this process that pertains to autistic people as our emotions do not neatly lineup in the…

The Power of Presupposition

Lynne Soraya www.psychologytoday.com/blog/aspergers-diary Presuppositions. We all know what they are — but what part do they play in our interactions? Any member of a minority group will tell you stories in which they felt that they have been unfairly stereotyped – in which the other person made a presupposition about their character dependent on certain criteria – be it age, gender, race, or some other factor. These are obvious cases of presuppositions impacting our social interaction. But are there situations in which presuppositions more subtly impact interactions? If you reach out to touch someone, and they jerk away, do you make a presupposition as to what that means? If someone is habitually quiet, do you make presuppositions regarding their intelligence or competence? As I have learned about autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, I have learned to question certain aspects of my experience. Things that I accepted as “normal,” because I experienced…