Why Do So Many Autistic People Flap Our Hands?
The problem is not autistic hand flapping. The problem is when the decision has been made that hand flapping is annoying or weird, and not natural (and adorable!).
Maxfield Sparrow
When Autistic People Have Epilepsy
Photo © Ivo Dimitrov | Flickr / Creative Commons [image: Illustration of a human brain, in profile, made of colorful cogs in various sizes and shapes.] Maxfield Sparrow unstrangemind.com [Content note: This post discusses suicidality, mental health, and death.] In the early 1990s, I was engaged to a man with epilepsy. He had tonic-clonic seizures
On Hans Asperger, the Nazis, and Autism: A Conversation Across Neurologies
Hans Asperger was, most likely, a complicated and conflicted man who recognized the potential of “autistic intelligence” long before anyone else did, but who was willing to go along with his Nazi bosses even when Jewish storefronts were burning in front of his eyes.
Autism Uncensored: A Dangerous and Spirit-Crushing Book
Ellenby wrote in the first half of Autism Uncensored that she was Zack’s accommodation and he “rides” her. By the second half of the book it is becoming clear that she is riding Zack, using his autism for a social payout to herself.
Why Is the Autistic Unemployment Rate So High?
The Autistic unemployment rate is higher than the unemployment rate for all disabled Americans in general, and higher than the unemployment rate for non-Autistic Americans with developmental disabilities.
Please Stand By is a Quietly Subversive Film
Maxfield Sparrow unstrangemind.com Me too. Which is why I can’t wait until Hollywood starts getting that stuff right so I *can* just relax and enjoy a film about people like me. #PleaseStandBy — Unstrange Mind ???????? (@UnstrangeMind) January 28, 2018 [image: Twitter exchange: “I want to see Please Stand By but as one on the
Identifying Good People and Avoiding Bad People: How Can an Autistic Person Stay Safe?
Going slow and watching for patterns are your two best tools for staying safe with people. People have patterns of behavior, and if you take your time getting to know them, they will fall into their patterns. Watch for red flags and decide ahead of time what you will accept and what is unacceptable.
Authoring Our Own Lives: How Autistics and the World Benefit from Auti-Biography
Maxfield Sparrow unstrangemind.com Photo © barbara w | Flickr/Creative Commons [image: Hands on a typewriter keyboard, at a sunny wooden desk, next to a drink on a crocheted white doily, amidst some plucked green leaves.] The last decade has seen a blossoming of blogs, articles, books, and documentary films about autism, authored by actually Autistic
Why To Siri With Love Is a Wrecking Ball of a Book
Maxfield Sparrow unstrangemind.com [Content note: possible triggers include: forcible sterilization of minorities including Autistic people, forcible gynecological experimentation on minorities, Judge Rotenberg Center, electric shock, stereotypes about Autistics lacking empathy or a sense of humor, stereotypes about Autistics or Black people lacking the ability to feel pain, snakes and feeding live rodents, harmful Supreme Court
Autism and Intense Interests: Why We Love What We Love and Why It Should Matter to You
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.