If you were a student who had an IEP or has one, what do you wish your teachers knew?

It is 17 days until I am delivering a keynote on ableism in literacy at the Autism Society of Minnesota Conference! #autism #education

My concern is that by bringing things to the DOJ right now, we are handing ammunition to speed up dismantling rights for disabled people of all ages. #DOE #doj

Families of very high support needs kids don't get the help they need at all. I really wish folks with lower support needs children would listen beyond the triggering language these families sometimes use. There is so much trauma going on from physical violence to lack of sleep days on end. #autism

This is all very bad. Very predictable. I'm not able to respond to dozens of messages from non-clients asking what will happen. 504 page is down on DOE website. We will survive but wow. #education #disability

Today is the 3rd time in my entire career that I read an evaluation (I've read over 1k) where I suspect someone missed a TBI for a child. Please run your evaluations past someone. #iep #specialeducation #autism ##learningdisability

As an educator, as an organizer, as an advocate! #specialeducation #iep #iepadvocate #disability #autism #adhd ##learningdisability

Let's do this! #specialeducation #iep ##iepadvocate #disability

Black autistic individuals are largely left out of media representation. I hope Autistic and Black is among the first of many pieces of literature to include our stories from around the world. Below are the demographics of those featured in the book🎉:

Today I saw a typical neuropsych eval for an autistic teenage girl: let's dx her with everything that describes the autism without naming it (OCD, GAD, Mood Disorder NOS, SPD). THESE ARE BAD EVALUATIONS. #autism #actuallyautistic #autismingirls

Watching special education teachers post their non-trauma informed reactions to kids having big feelings feels awful. #specialeducation #iep

Everything you've ever been told as a parent about "levels of autism" is likely grossly incorrect. #autism

Please stop talking about your autism like it's the entire spectrum of autism. Some of us do struggle with tone. Some of us do have cognitive disability needs. Some of us do need a caretaker. Please stop. #autism #actuallyautistic

#BIPOC voices are often missing from autistic spaces, so here is a BIPOC starter pack! 😊 go.bsky.app/TtXfpAt #racialequality #antiracism The image of autism as “only white boys” leads to underdiagnosis, discrimination & isolation for many Our autistic community is much more diverse than that! ❤️

Parents should be given evaluations in plain language. Most folks can learn to understand evaluation reports with just a little help #specialeducation #iep

Everyone wants honest and direct communication until they meet an autistic person and get honest and direct communication lol

To the next person to tries to say "this child has mild autism:" Autism is a disability. Autistics can experience SI, regression, catatonia, and even episodes of psychosis if unsupported. Everyone's autistic profile is different. Nobody's autism is not disabling. #Autism ##actuallyautistic

This week, I was in 11 IEP meetings across 8 states. Amazing kids and mostly receptive teams. The key is knowing your rights, knowing best practices, and having strong conflict skills. #iep #specialeducation

Is your student who has an IEP getting all their services? Have you gotten at least one progress report this year on their annual goals? #specialeducation #iep ##learningdisability #autism #adhd #dyslexia #disability

As an #autistic I hate the question "How are you?" It's full of possibilities and seems like a lot to think about and contextualize. Turns out, that's social based conversation, whereas autistics prefer object based (or focused) conversation. Fascinating! neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/object-...

My services cost money. I also have a TON of free resources, do mutual aid work, host free LIVES for families to get info, and provide free consultations. I am TIRED of the cash grab that "neurodiversity affirming" has become. MOST FAMILIES CANNOT AFFORD THESE THINGS. #iep #autism #specialeducation

A behavior intervention plan is PART of the IEP. It is the PLAN that should be referenced in the IEP itself and it an IEP addendum. It does not expire just because it's a new year. You have to either agree a child no longer needs a BIP or update it at least with every annual review. #iep

ADHDers are often trained from school age to get dopamine AFTER completing tasks. This sets us up for failure in a broader sense. Dopamine PRE-LOADING is what I do with kids and teach them ABOUT THEIR BRAIN ACTIVATORS AND DE-ACTIVATORS! #ADHD

I cannot find any evidence that evaluators of autism are getting any unified training to align their interpretations of support need levels. You can go to 3 different assessors and get different versions: 1. Just "autism, 2. "Level" of autism (yikes), 3. Each of the 4 areas gets a "level". #autism

My neurodivergence is an amazing strength in advocating for students. I am data-driven, can cite laws and regulations from memory, can find creative solutions easily, have deep knowledge of research. I love working to fight for kids. #iep #autism #adhd #neurodivergence

My friend Oswin is a board member of one of my favorite Neurodivergent organizations, Foundations for Divergent Minds. Oswin is at risk of being unhoused. Please help me spread the word about this fundraiser! gofund.me/143d3ef6 #autism ##actuallyautistic #neurodivergent

What I don't allow in Behavior Plans: 🚫 planned ignoring 🚫 "use your words" 🚫 food reinforcement 🚫 hand over hand as primary prompt 🚫 planned restraint/seclusion 🚫 decreasing safe stimming🚫 earning sensory breaks 🚫 earning special interests #specialeducation #iep #neurodivergence

People will misunderstand you as autistic humans, including your fellow autistic humans. It will upset you often. Empathy with other autistics isn’t guaranteed. Save your energy for those who get you.

Something I run into a lot is autistic adults who are late dx like me generalizing about autism (and disability overall) based on our experiences or the experiences of our diagnosed children. The autism experience is vast. We vary in communication, sensory profile, independence, processing. #autism

Today in Hell Yes, Research! When autistic children learned about autism "in a neutral and non-stigmatizing manner," & from autistic people with lived experience, it improved their self-understanding, sense of belonging, and their communication/self-advocacy skills. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Me before hitting my worst autistic burnout: working a FT job, usually putting in 60 hrs, organizing social activities for friends, dating, OCD off the charts, constant "panic attacks" Me 1.5 years into recovering: WFH, hobbies, sleep, next to zero anxiety We push autistic kids too hard. #autism

Please do not post identifying information here or on meta platforms. As someone who's been in organizing for 20 years, please use secure platforms like Signal. Please use a VPN. Please look up security basics.

There is an enormous divide between evaluators of autism and what autistic self-advocates, and even autistic researchers of autism, have been saying for a long time. Example: I got evaluations from CA, MD, and KY this weekend. They all recommend working on eye contact and no stimming. #autism

I am so tired of white LSN experiences like mine being the narrative of autism on social media. I have worked for 14 years now with autistic kids and young adults from over 40 different countries. Please, can we try to reflect before we make sweeping generalizations? #autism #actuallyautistic

In assisted dying debate - people with disabilities are being talked over, shouted at & told their concerns are invalid Ironically - those doing this are proving our point Our lives are not considered worth saving. Our concerns go unheeded. We’re seen as expendable. We have a right to be scared

I really want folks to stop assuming autism= morally superior in any way. Autism is how our brain is wired. Neutral neurotype difference. We are vulnerable to abuse and trauma AND we can be abusive. We need support and accountability that works with our brain. #autism #actuallyautistic

"PDA" in my students has meant: high verbal expression, high boredom, high sensory needs, high social confusion, high anxiety, high shame, poor sleep, high SI, deep loneliness, high rumination. This isn't true for everyone. But I am worried folks think PDA isn't Audhd and is it's own neurotype.

“Anyone can be a victim of ableism if they do not follow societal norms that our culture sets for people’s bodies and minds. In fact, we need to realize how corrosive the oppression of ableism is on our culture & society.” From @communicationfirst.bsky.social: communicationfirst.org/dr-lateef-mc...

Most of us like to think of ourselves as Elphaba, when we are really still comfortably Glinda in reality. #wicked

If you're going to cite Elon Musk in regard to just autism and not in regard to him being a colonizing, racist, ableist, corrupt, talentless father who hates his own trans daughter and invested money in actively destroying the lives of people like her...you're getting blocked.

These 3 examples are a sample of how messy, complicated, deeply unfair the circumstances that even well-intentioned educators face in supporting our students with disabilities. District higher ups hate when we advocate. Special education teachers are left to our own devices. #iep #specialeducation

We tried advanced coursework because B was bored most of the day. Eventually, partnering with the family, we were able to skip him up a grade. It didn't change the unsafe bx. I was no longer involved so the district could pressure the next case manager to be quiet. #iep #specialeducation

It was very clear that this family also needed intensive support and that we needed daily therapy, the RBT and BCBA and I had written a sensory- friendly, non-ABA, high consent/autonomy BIP. B still punched peers, started stalking a crush. He felt deep shame after each time. #iep ##specialeducation

The district threatened me to keep quiet about all the research I was reading on Audhd children with neurological differences, to keep quiet and magically make a gen ed classroom of 27 students work for this child who I deeply cared for. No help came, I asked every week for 7 months. #iep

I had received one concussion from B, he had stabbed a para in the leg with a pen, etc. The district refused to allow us to do emergency placement and initiate due process for this child. He would become the first of several well-resourced students like this in the program. #iep #specialeducation

B's family loved him and was also stuck in an endless loop of violence and trauma at home. B was dx ADHD young, as well as "conduct disorder." With the resources they had, the family agreed to evaluate for autism. ✅️ He was in elementary school when we met. #iep #specialeducation

The last example I want to provide today is B. B was from an upper middle class white family, two parent household. B was incredibly capable of finding information he wanted, including how to hurt people in pretty scary ways. He made plans from a young age. #iep #specialeducation

I don't know what happened to S once his mother pulled him from school. The intention here is to show how often disabled kids will fall through the cracks because the school district doesn't help support its teachers in navigating a dynamic such as the one with S's mother. #iep #specialeducation

S was retained in 11th grade (different school, different team). His mother pulled him from the school, refusing to admit her child was disabled. She took him to 4am prayer at church to help him, sometimes during the school week. Staff from the same cultural background tried to connect. #iep