Why invisible autism is hurting so many of us. A timeline. We do things. We experience consequences for those things. We mask...

Autistic kid: *exists* Society: Everything you're doing is wrong. Stop it. Autistic kid: I don't understand. Why? Society: You should KNOW why. Seriously stop it. All of it. *gestures* ↓

I wish more people understood that not all autism is visible, but all autism is disabling. If you don't see it, it's because we're actively hiding it. (Not for us, for others.) But hiding our autism means our needs are also invisible. And unmet needs = inner turmoil. 😣

I don't know who needs to see this, but autistic bluntness is not rude, it's efficient. 💡

Even if Tylenol does impact a tiny percentage of people which results in autistic-like brain wiring... why is anyone acting like that's some monumental discovery about autism? It's not even close...

Yesterday I talked about how long-term unsupported autism can lead to self-implosion after years of an autistic person's needs not being met, and I just realized something... This explains why s**cide rates are so high for autistic people. 😞💔

I realized something about autism today... something that I think is pretty huge... The opposite of autistic self-actualization (when we're at peak peace/fulfillment/happiness) is autistic self-implosion... and I actually think it's a continuum.

PSA... there's a type of autism most people can't see because all autistic traits have been internalized. Meaning, the person's autistic needs are not met... but you can't tell. They look the exact same as someone whose needs are all met.

"Everyone is on the spectrum" Not if by spectrum you mean the autism spectrum. Everyone is on A spectrum. But not the autism spectrum. The one everyone is on is the spectrum of human needs.

Them: You don't look autistic Me: You don't see it because my autism mostly affects me. I've spent most of my life painstakingly minimizing the impact it has on others... so now it has no effect on you at all, but my life is indescribably more difficult and exhausting

I have a theory and I'd love to test it out in a super unscientific way 😆 If you're autistic, tell me if this makes sense to you... My theory is that autistic people are wired to think. And when we aren't able to think for whatever reason, we get riddled with anxiety.

Who else is "low maintenance" because as a kid you were relentlessly shamed or bullied for needing anything inconvenient for the other person, no matter how small 😒

Fellow lower support needs autistics, this post is for you. Vilifying well-intentioned parents is not the way. It's just as ineffective and harmful as the shame tactics that were used on us throughout our lives to manipulate us into compliance.

My "high functioning autism" is basically everyone else seeing me as completely normal but maybe just a bit picky/particular... while internally it's me in constant sensory overload, social overload, and fighting against my executive dysfunction to just do stuff... Anyone else?

Autism isn't a superpower... It GIVES US superpowers... a very specific category of them (pattern recognition, systems thinking, etc) It also gives us a very specific category of disability. You can't be autistic if you aren't at least somewhat disabled. It's in the DSM criteria...

Yesterday I said everyone is brilliant and I got this comment from a well meaning person, which I'd like to unpack... "No, not everyone is brilliant. Some people are severely intellectually disabled. Stop erasing them. They matter."

Everyone is brilliant. Not everyone has access to their brilliance. Neurodivergence creates barriers to access. Not less brilliance. Neurodivergent people need support to remove those barriers.

Why forced compliance doesn't work with autistic kids... 1. They don't understand why they need to do the thing 2. They don't agree with the reason you gave them...

So there's a common autistic experience where people have difficulty understanding and articulating their own emotions. It's called "alexithymia." But I think we need an opposite term. Because it definitely exists.

Ok. That's it. I think I've finally reached my threshold. I'm done accepting survival as the goal for autistic people. We deserve more. We deserve the ability to find peace, fulfillment, and happiness (just like anyone else).

I think this whole "we're looking for the cause of autism" conversation is majorly flawed and wreaking havoc on meaningful dialogue in the autism awareness space... and I'm going to explain why... First of all, we know, scientifically, that there is no single cause of autism.

If you're autistic and have word finding issues... I can offer some insight as to why this might happen. Anyone interested in a post on this?

Someone said I should "take a seat" because I don't speak for the parents of level 3 autistic children who desperately want a cure... and I would like to clarify something. I think we want the same thing, we are just calling it something different...

If you want to change an autistic person's behavior, you need to start by asking yourself why. If the answer has more to do with you than it does them, that's a problem. If it truly is about them, ask yourself why it's important to them. (Not FOR them, TO them.)

"Not everything is autism. When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Orrrr, how about... When you have a hammer, you're really good at SPOTTING nails 🤔

Them: Autistic people aren't funny and can't take jokes Me: Autistic people don't take everything literally and here's why... My (autistic) comments section: Sounds like you… took it literally 👀 That's kleptomaniacs. 😆🤣

"Autistic people take everything literally" This is not an accurate statement, and I'm going to explain why. Yes, autistic people do often take things literally, but there's more to it than that...

Autism awareness needs to be overhauled. And I think I know how. Especially now, in the wake of all this "we need a cure" talk. 😒 I'll start with this... As a society, we're getting autism awareness and support all wrong...

Fun fact... Autistic brains think in systems. If we don't have a place to put something in the system we've set up in our brains, we won't remember it. Which is why we have such a hard time retaining information that isn't directly relevant to us.

As an autistic advocate who was diagnosed 3 years ago, but who has been in the online autistic community for over 5 years, I have seen a lot. I also have trauma from early interactions with a small fringe group of autistic individuals...

There’s something that’s been frustrating me, and I want to address it. When I talk about internalized autism, I keep hearing “That’s just masking.”

Worth noting... autistic people can get more rigid about their likes and preferences over time as they learn and figure out that the things they don't "like" actually cause them distress. This includes people, btw.

Reminder to my fellow over explainers who say many many words in an effort to be as precise as possible to avoid misunderstandings... some people will still willfully misunderstand you no matter how carefully and thoroughly you explain. You don’t owe those people your energy. ❤️

Autistic masking is way more complicated and nuanced than I think most autistic people realize. For example, I haven't seen anyone talk about the fact that, as autistic people, we often need other autistic people to mask for us so our autistic needs are met.

Is anxiety exclusively autistic? (A question on my last post) Not all anxiety. But some anxiety absolutely is (like the anxiety I described in my last post). There's actually research showing a biological explanation for this. It has to do with the size of the amygdala.

Them: You don't look autistic Me: My autism doesn't really look like anything. It's mainly just me being anxious about things. Can't eat safe food. Anxious. Someone too close to me. Anxious. Have to do small talk. Anxious. Them: You don't look anxious Me: I hide it REALLY well

Executive dysfunction check-in... You need to move your laundry to the dryer (don't worry about putting it away if you don't have the energy ❤️) Don't forget to pay the bill that's buried in that giant pile on your desk (it's ok to leave the pile there 💙)

Why is it that the people who shame others for needing validation are the same people who spend all their time undermining & criticizing others because their fragile ego can't handle anyone else having qualities that deserve recognition? Wait. I think I just answered my own question. Nvm 🙂

If you think an autistic person is "dense" because they asked you clarifying questions, I hate to break it to you, but they needed to ask follow up questions because you didn't explain yourself well enough. Not because they have comprehension issues. Hope that helps 🙃

If you're autistic and learned (like I did) that shrinking yourself is often necessary to survive... Here's your gentle reminder that you deserve to take up space. Take. Up. Space. 🤗

FYI... Autistic people tend to think in complexities. Someone can ask us to do something seemingly straightforward, but our brains will often make it into something extremely complex and nuanced. We ask questions to untangle our thoughts.

9 signs you might have highly internalized autism... 1. You didn't have a speech delay and you met all your early milestones as a child... but were mistreated a lot by classmates, peers, teachers, and other adults in your life for being "different"

I don't know who needs to see this, but when you tell an autistic person who describes their autism as invisible that you can tell they're autistic, you're not bursting their bubble because they're in denial...

I realized something yesterday about autistic masking that blew my mind a little bit... We don't all mask the same way. Not because we choose to mask differently, but because our brains give us different capacities for masking. Let me explain...

Someone just commented on my post about internalized autism saying "that's high masking. The mask will eventually break." Not for me. For me, it's not my mask that breaks. It's me.

I just realized something kind of huge about my highly internalized autism. I was trying to think back to big traumatic events that caused me to internalize my autistic traits (to share examples so people can understand internalized autism better)...

There isn't a single autistic trait I have that doesn't trigger anxiety when the associated need isn't met. - Sensory overstimulation... anxiety - Social confusion... anxiety - Routine disruption... anxiety

8 signs from your childhood that you might have been undiagnosed autistic... 1. No one seemed to want to be your friend or to be associated with you 2. You didn't fit in anywhere

This one's for anyone stuck in the Corporate hamster wheel like I am 😅... I won't deny that LinkedIn isn't my favorite platform, but I do think my presence there is important and will help me spread awareness in a space where it's desperately needed 😬😅

Here's your friendly reminder that autism levels indicate how much support a person requires to get their autistic needs met. (One of the more concrete examples of an autistic need is related to sensory distress.)