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On Autistic “Super Powers”

Greta Thunberg by Anders Hellberg | Wikimedia Commons [image: Greta Thunberg, a white Swedish teen with long light brown plaits, standing outside a building holding a large hand-painted sign reading, “Skolstrejk för klimatet,” or, “school strike for climate”.] Marie Porter  www.CelebrationGeneration.com All of the people who think Greta Thunberg is a “mouthpiece” or “being exploited” have SO OBVIOUSLY never tried to get between a teenaged autistic and a special interest of theirs… much less a special interest involving the well-being of others.#ActuallyAutistic — Marie Porter 🇨🇦 (@OverlordMarie) September 17, 2019 Recently, there has been a lot of chatter on #ActuallyAutistic Twitter about the use of the term “super power” with regards to autism, and specifically by Greta Thunberg, who recently said, “Being different is a super power.” As usual, I have some thoughts. First off, I want to acknowledge that not every autistic is going to see their own autism as a super power. The…

Rotten Food, Lousy Service: Dodge the Restaurant Mentality to Get Your Kids the Services They Need

Carol Ann Greenburg Brooklyn Special Needs Consulting, www.bklynsnc.com Sometimes I feel like getting services for my autistic son is like trying to dine at the world’s worst restaurant. You can’t afford the best eatery in the city, who could? You’re still really hungry so you walk into some local dive and the wait staff, whose entire job it is to feed you, is standing around staring blankly at the many obvious health-code violations. They’re clearly offended by the interruption when you ask for a menu. You’re the one who is hungry after all, why can’t you come in knowing what you plan to eat? Finally someone ambles over with a menu, drops it on your table like they’re doing you a favor, and you realize there’s nothing even remotely edible on it. Specials, Substitutions? Forget about it! After you wait an unholy amount of time, someone brings you the wrong…