Milton: Autistic 10 year olds experiencing mutual incomprehension: "95% of people don't understand me, adults won't stop bullying me," etc. The breakdown between autistic and non-autistic is due not only the autistic person, but differing perspectives in trying to understand each other. #INSAR2026

"It is important to remember that the DEP emerged from lived experience and social theory" - Milton. Damian reflects on alienation in autistic people & the impact of this on autistic sense of self, the role of stigma. Damian calls for collaboration & participation to avoid tokenism. #INSAR2026

Milton: To combat double empathy problem fallout for autistics, we need collaboration. Autistic people themselves need to be setting the agenda, and we need more cooperative efforts like the Participatory Autism Research Collective he helped found. #INSAR2026

Fortunate to have suggested Damian Milton to keynote at #INSAR2026 about the double empathy problem. For 1st time he considered application to animal models (critiquing it) & also included the relevance to autistic people w/ severe intellectual impairment like his son (critiquing “profound autism”).

CN: Suicide, self-harm TGD autistics are more likely to be suicidal and self harm. They are 12x more likely to have a suicide plan. Gender discrimination vs. gender affirming care also are significant factors. #INSAR2026

CN: Suicide, self-harm Take homes: transgender and gender diverse autistics compared to cis autistics are morel likely to have anxiety, suicidality or self-harm, and a suicide plan. Gender affirming & neuro-affirming health care is CRUCIAL. This requires staff training. #INSAR2026

#dailyflower #colorAday #yellowThu #Bloomscrolling

The autistic folk with a learning disability that I’ve met and known over the last 20 years do not deserve to have such an unthought through label thrust upon them. They are not cut off from joy or love. And that’s why the neurodiversity movement rocks; it speaks of difference not despair.

So, I don’t like the language of ‘profound autism’ because calling something ‘place of despair autism’ sucks.

Another INSAR, another year for me to be grumpy about the term ‘profound autism’; this time not because of the corrosion of solidarity - and the potential social justice missed - that can come from splitting off a ‘type of autism’. That’s huge, don’t get me wrong.

CN: Police killing Alex LaMorie, an autistic man, called the police for help. Instead, they shot him. At least two of the three officers who shot Alex went through autism training. It was not enough to stop them from killing him. By @autisticadvocacy.org: thinkingautismguide.com/2026/04/auti...

To people attending #INSAR2026: I will be attending and presenting a poster on the Autistic Advisory Panel and the process of establishing it. Happy to meet to chat about the Panel, my work and all things research. I am also co-organising the Autistic Researchers meet-up with INSAR's ARC.

@uopcidd.bsky.social Director Prof Beatriz López presented meta-analysis w/ ~30k participants: higher variability in autistic ppl for theory of mind & flexibility executive functioning tasks than central coherence or planning EF task. Variability was *not* higher over time #INSAR2026 #neurodiversity

David Mandell is presenting at #INSAR2026 about the effects of U.S: autism insurance mandates on services delivered. I’m curious about the breakdown of how insurance mandates have increased ABA services, occupational therapy, and speech therapy as separate categories. Not all services are the same.

Sterrett: The groupings were based on standardized measures, basically low IQ and low adaptive skills (again, these are not autism-specific traits. These are co-occurring disability traits). #INSAR2026 #profoundAutism

Case: Sandy, 40 yrs old. She was bullied from a young age, and so retreated into herself, did not want to be burden. She would "shut up" and not overwhelm people with the things she wanted to say. She experienced worsening bone density without any explanation, blamed for her diet. #INSAR2026

"Autistic professionals are your colleagues" Hannah explains that there are high numbers of autistic people working across different professional fields. AADC brings together autistic clinicians, researchers & allies internationally who can diagnose professionally. Over 200 members #INSAR2026

With #INSAR2026 coming up, a reminder that autistic and neurodiversity advocates are NOT against research, if it improves autistic quality of life—in fact, we want more of that! Especially for chronic pain & GI issues that can present differently in autistics: www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/cli...

My two pence having attended INSAR in 2024, 2025 and 2026 is that I have felt that there has been more of a "science", "genetics", & "sub-type" focus in main stage presentations than the more interdisciplinary, intersectionality participatory & autistic-led research (more poster & SIG). #INSAR2026

I recognise that INSAR has traditionally been more "science", but I find it incredibly limiting to treat other disciplines as being "less than" or to suggest that scientists are 'scared' to come and present at INSAR. We need interdisciplinary representation & more practice-based & ND-led research.

Human rights is a theme recurring, particularly the importance of having conversations particularly during politically challenging times in order to protect and promote rights. #INSAR2026

CN: Suicide For those who self-identified as being in recovery, helpful items include: Optimizing identity, understanding oneself, rediscovering meaning. #INSAR2026

You would be correct. I have all the anecdotes. -SR #INSAR2026

My hunch (I haven’t yet seen research in this regard) is that the ABA industry’s focus on profit maximization may mean that insurance mandates could very well be degrading the quality of services provided to autistic individuals. #INSAR2026

I’m begging conferences to provide printed programs and clear signage onsite and not just rely on apps. I honestly cannot cognitively follow the schedule in the #INSAR2026 app, nor figure out where to go, nor tell what is a session, poster presentation, or something else.

Now: Laura Lewis, from University of Vermont, presenting on the experiences of autistic adults with complex health needs. Note: This discussion will include discussions of health and sexual trauma. #INSAR2026

Results: Autistic patients often came out with poorer health than they arrived with. Often were made to doubt their own bodies and experiences, from an early age. Even when they didn't, they had barriers such as communication. And THEN would get dismissed by practitioners' prejudices. #INSAR2026

We know that health care providers usually have good intentions, but that doesn't mean they are not causing harm for their autistic patients. Most of the participants were female/AFAB, and poor. #INSAR2026

CN: Suicide Protective factors for suicidality in autistic youth include: Neuro-affirming identity, critical awareness, autonomy. #INSAR2026

CN: Suicide Bullying can be overwhelming, even when not active, it can lead to negative and intrusive thoughts that they can't shut off. Resolution can include things like leaving school, enabling more autonomy with purposeful coping. #INSAR2026

CN: Suicide Another sub-theme is "existential disconnection" vs. purposeful hyperfocus. For example: If a search for meaning couldn't be resolved, purposeful rumination can help. #INSAR2026

#INSAR2026 -relevant: "Autism research is a revolving door which Autistic people virtually never get to enter and allistics virtually never bother to exit." Autistic AAC user Xavier Penn discusses attending autism conferences, and Tokenism in Autism Research: thinkingautismguide.com/2026/03/the-...

Sup? My name's Elie. I have PhD in Psych & I'm a postdoc. I'm new to Bluesky and need to follow. Things I'm into: #neurodivergent/ #MentallyIll / #MadStudies content that is not constructed purely through an anti-psychiatry lens; lived experience research (I'm #AuDHD + #Bipolar); anything #Pokémon

I wrote this book (it's available on Amazon), and check out this interview I did with Thinking Person's Guide to Autism!

The House Ag Committee released its breakdown of the spending cuts made under the reconciliation bill (h/t @jamiedupree.bsky.social). It puts work requirements on able-bodied adults between 19 and 64. Reducdes the federal share of administering SNAP from 50% to 25% docs.house.gov/meetings/AG/...

Coolest couple in the neighborhood. Photo from my collection, 1937.

The Ag Committee's part of the Reconciliation Bill raises the SNAP work requirement age for able-bodied adults without dependents from 54 to 64. It also changes the definition of "dependent child" from under 18 years to under 7 years old to determine "Able-bodied adult without dependents."

My #INSAR2025 talk - expertly tweeted by @thinkingautism.com & @aimeespeaks.bsky.social - is now available to watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n4c... Focus: How I share power with lay Autistic people - including those with learning disabilities and who are non-speaking - and what they think of it /1

Everyone in the past was neurotypical, which is how we got things like this single-author, eight-volume encyclopedia of ferns

Check out Lavender’s Nonspeaker Library — it is a collection of posts, writing, art, poetry, researcher, and more by and about nonspeaking people and people with communication disabilities. www.tumblr.com/nonspeakerli...

Writing on the back of this photo from my collection says “General Nuisance. Summer 1954”.

I honestly don’t eat a lot of seafood, but I *love* looking at the art on tinned seafood.

It's no coincidence that someone who argues that autistic people lack epistemic authority feels the need to warn about this too.

The goal of this project is to put that important and actionable information in a cute-as-hell delivery system, so people feel excited and empowered to take those first steps. We don’t drown them in details, just give them an action plan, emphasizing that doing anything is better than nothing.

The zine gives an overview of ACTIONS people can take to support biodiversity here in Philly. It includes information specific to the region, from plant species to city stormwater management programs. It can be overwhelming to know you’re supposed to do SOMETHING but not know where to start.

This project is ~$2k over budget, bc... well, I paid artists & printed 3000 copies. "MY BAD" (not bad, good actually). I've distributed ~10% of the zines. I want to have a broader footprint in the city! Want to help get zines to more neighborhoods? 🫣 Donate here: givebutter.com/phillybiodiv...

One important avenue for discussing autistic people’s autonomy in depth is exploring the Supported Decision Making Movement. Autistic Self Advocacy Network offers some helpful material on this subject, including some material in an Easy Reading format.

Blasko: We talked for a long time about the barriers to inclusion for autistics with HSNs. Researchers need to develop the skills to do it. We need less gatekeeping, and to dismantle that power imbalance. Researchers needs to provide better access. I hope we are patient with each other. #INSAR2025

Blasko and Jaswal: Why is this panel happening? Well, some people here don't understand how autistic with HSNs can participate, and don't understand the #neurodiversity paradigm. Previous panelists talked about how to include autistic people with HSNs successfully in research. #INSAR2025

Sutherland: Sometimes communication difficulties were due to staff's normative assumptions about communication. So if someone could speak a bit they assumed they should be able to speak more, instead of trying to use AAC or other communication methods. #INSAR2025